Come and Go With Ed
by therealshackleford1
Summary: What if it was possible that over the course of knowing each other, Double D and Marie Kanker have harbored secret crushes for each other? What happens when they both reveal their secrets and decide to come together? Let's just say that the lives of the cul-de-sac will never be the same again, so come and go with this teenage symphony of romance.
1. Chapter I

Come and Go With Ed

All credit goes to Ed, Edd, n Eddy, one of the best cartoons to exist, and to KiltedEngineer, author of "Bad Girls with Big Hearts" for being a good friend.

As far as canon goes, the force is strong with this one. I will try to stick to the show as much as possible, and make episode references all the time. I try as hard as possible to keep the the characters in character.

**Disclaimer**

This story contains scenes and situations that involve graphic vilolence, teenage sexuality, mild/coarse language, mature situations, and psychological nudity. If you at all feel nervous reading such scenes, you have been warned.

**Part I - You'll Never Walk Alone...**

Preface

_"Calling it a simple schoolgirl crush was like saying a Rolls-Royce was a vehicle with four wheels, something like a hay-wagon. She did not giggle wildly and blush when she saw him, nor did she chalk his name on trees or write it on the walls of the Kissing Bridge. She simply lived with his face in her heart all the time, a kind of sweet, hurtful ache. She would have died for him.."_

_-**Stephen King**_

Chapter I

_"Love is not what you say, love is not what you think. Love is what you feel." _  
_- **therealshackleford1**_

It was yet again another bright and shinny summer's day in the loving cul-de-sac that resided in Peach Creek. It was roughly 8 am in the morning. As usual, Johnny 2x4 and Plank were walking in the alley telling jokes and laughing. Jimmy and Sarah were in Jimmy's yard playing fashion design, with Sarah being the model and Jimmy the designer. Rolf was tending the yam fields with his beloved goat Victor. Kevin was riding his bike around with a jawbreaker in his mouth. It had been about 1 year since the incedent with Eddy's brother at the ammusment park. And since the Eds were now a normal group in the cul-de-sac, they were no longer picked on by Kevin, or anybody. Even the Kankers rarely paid any mind to them. Eddy, who had put away his scamming past, was listening to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack record in his room as he showered and got dressed, complimenting his looks as he combed his hair in the mirror

"Call 911, cause a handsome cat just broke in my house!" he exclaimed.

Ed was in his room, still tired from the Sci-Fi Channel Top 50 Monster Movie countdown that was on TV last night. He was disappointed that Night of the Living Dead did not win, instead finishing second to The Fly. Of course, Ed can get quite emotional over his horror/monster movies. He takes them as seriously as someone would take chemistry or politics seriously. Not many people could hope to understand the mind of Ed though. Especially his two best friends in the whole world.

"Buttered toast and gravy boat!" Ed said as he rose from his bed and popped two bread slices in the toaster. They came out as he buttered them, and he took some gravy from his tub and poured it on one slice of toast, and made a buttered toast gravy sandwich, a delicacy worthy of only the best horror movie experiences. After his breakfast, he jumped out his window to go get Eddy.

Double D having already showered and dressed, finished his last chore of polishing the kitchen floor. This was his typical routine, and Double D is always touchy over his rituals concerning the notes left by his parents. Double D's main mission in life is to bring pleasure to as many people as possible, especially his parents. He now went to his room very quickly to take inventory of his incects and Jim the cactus before taking off his rubber gloves and leaving the house to go meet his two friends for a fun day.

However, a fun day it would not be.

As Double D saw Ed and Eddy walking, Eddy spoke up.

"Yo Double D, that was some night huh? Who knew Ed had it in him?" Eddy said.

"Yes, quite the achievenment. And my sympathies that your favorite movie did not win Ed." remarked Double D.

"Thanks Double D, and my symphonies to your Mozart too."

"Shut up Ed." Eddy said, "I am bored, how about we go aggrivate Kevin. Ever since he stopped pickin' on us, it's been getting kinda dead around here."

Indeed, Kevin, for the most part, had stopped his constant belittling of the Eds. And honestly, he didn't really have time for it. He was much too busy stacking his own self-image ever higher than to think about little things like the Eds.

The Eds walked over to Kevin, who was doing donuts in the circle of the cul-de-sac in front of Nazz, his official/unofficial girlfriend. Eddy soon took note of his jawbreaker.

"What gives Kev, where did ya get the sweet stuff?" Eddy said in an angry tone.

"Shove off dork. If you must know, Nazz bought it for me, for my birthday."

"Oh really, how about coughin' up some of that dough you owe me from our last bet, the one on Ed staying up to watch the countdown." Eddy, much more angrily (because money was involved, said.

"Why don't you make me, dork?" Kevin shouted, and now had dismounted his bike and was now in Eddy's face. The whole cul-de-sac had now gathered around to see the commotion.

Out of the cul-de-sac, past the construction sight up on the hilled trailer park, the Kankers were outside doing their normal chores, chiefly washing clothes. Lee Kanker, the red, curly haired sister was sitting on the steps going up to the Kanker trailer, and after haing heard the commotion, grabbed her binoculars to spy on what was going on down in the cul-de-sac.

Meanwhile, in the cul-de-sac, the argument countiued, this time both Double D and Ed took either side of Eddy, ready for the dispute. Kevin spoke,

"Look, I don't owe you anything and you know it. You're just lookin' for money and you know it!"

"Actually Kevin, if my calculations are correct, you did indeed cooperate this money bet with Eddy as to whether Ed would stay up until 2 o'clock in the morning to see the end of countdown. I believe the bet was $10, and you owe the subsequent amout of payola to Eddy this morning, that is, if you are willing to uphold your end of the agreement." Double D chimed in.

"Was anyone talkin' to you Double Dork, now butt out, this ain't got nothing' to do with you."

"No one talks to my friend like that and gets away from it! Ed, come over here!" Eddy said, red as ever and filled with anger at Kevin's smart remark.

"I'll do whatever I want to your 'friend' if I want to, and you (he pointed at Eddy) and your big oaf here, ain't gonna do a thing about it." Kevin remarked, and he walked over to Double D and punched him in the gut and pushed him over into the street.

Up at the trailer park, Lee looked with urge.

"MARIE, you need to get over here an' see this, hat guy just socked your man!"

Marie Kanker, the blue-short haired sister made no mistake and took off from washing clothes to grab the binoculars from Lee's hand.

"Zesh, don't have a heart attack." Lee whipped back, and stood beside her. Marie quenched and nearly cried to see her man laying on the ground hurt. Her sadness was equally expressed in anger at Kevin, and she made marks in her hand from her finger nails from her balled up fist.

"Nobody does that to my Oven Mitt and gets away with it!" Marie quipped, and started to get up.

"I am goin' down there Lee, and no one is stopping me!"

"Plant it Marie, and just watch!"

Down in the cul-de-sac, just after Kevin did this, everyone gasped, Nazz ran off crying, and Eddy was infuriated. Ed was the only thing holding him back from attacking Kevin.

"Let me go Ed," he said, "he is gonna get the poundin' of his life, let go Ed!"

"Listen here mister, there is to be no fighting today.":

"Ed, you need to stop fighting your brain for oxygen."

Just as Eddy finished up with that statement, Kevin stood there chuckling. But just as he started, Double D stood up, wobbly at first, and said the following things:

"Kevin, I have had it up to HERE with you and your constant bullying!"

"Whoa, it just got real." Eddy said to Ed as Double D was screaming.

"You have made a fool out of me for the last time, and it ends today. You're constant pillaging of rational discourse has left you paralyzed with pride as your situation has rendered you with more enemies with friends. And I feel it is time you get a dosage of your own perscrition!"

"What are you gonna do, sick your cactus on me?" Kevin sarcastically remarked.

"That tears it!" Double D screamed and jumped on top of Kevin. This sudden surprise left Kevin paralyzed, as Double D pounded Kevin's face with his fists.

Now hold up a minute, Double D in a fight? Harmless little Double D? Well, I am just as surprised as you are. Double D is not a fighting person at all. But we must understand that Double D is a human, and possesses all of the human emotions. Including anger. He had just bottled this anger up to the point where he couldn't handle it anymore.

"Wayta go sockhead, give it to 'em!" said Eddy.

"Cover your eyes. Plank" Johnny said.

Double D had wanted to do this all his life. But all his life, he had been too paralyzed by fear to do anything about it. It was certainly his most defining characteristic. All of his life he had been afraid of something, but he didn't know what. It was very possible that that was the very thing he was afraid of.

By this time, Rolf had heard the fight, and ran over and ripped Double D off of Kevin.

"Sock headed Ed boy, what is the meaningless battle that Rolf hears today. Rolf has not seen such anger since the Great Turnip Wars of 1054. What brings to this, Ed boys?" He looked at Eddy and Ed.

"Well," said Eddy," I just wanted to know were my bet money was, and Double D here backed me up, and Kevin jumped in and completely insulted him. Double D just did what anybody would do." Eddy crossed his arms and made an approving gesture.

"Ah, I see, the stump three haired Ed boy sought his bargin smargin and the Kevin insulted the brainy Ed boy."

"Exactly Rolf." Double D said.

Marie was watching her man fend for himself for the first time and he won. She was dreamily watching.

Rolf turned to Kevin and picked him up by the back of the collar.

"You have shamed Nana's yams for the next ten harvests due to the foolishness Rolf saw to the brainy Ed boy. The Hat of Discipline is the only punshisment Rolf sees fit. Good day, Ed boys. Good bye, yes." He carried Kevin away to his yard for his punishment.

All the kids ran over to Double D to raise him up. Johnny and plank came over as well with Sarah and Jimmy. Eddy and Ed held Double D on their shoulders, and Johnny shouted " Three cheers for Double D, bully slayer king! What's that plank? Make him king of the cul-de-sac? Sure thing buddy, you're the boss. Three cheers for Double D, king of the cul-de-sac.

The kids gave three "hip-hip-horrays" before putting Double D down and walking off to continue doing what they were doing before. Double D couldn't have felt better, but felt he was missing something.

But what was he missing? Something, for certain. Something plagued him. In his mind he knew there was an emptiness inside of him. Somewhere, deep down inside of him, he could feel a void. A hole in his soul. As much as he tried to ignore it, he just couldn't.

He went home afterwards, not knowing why or what had happened. He still couldn't come to terms with what he had done. He had gone against every single one of his moral ethics and beliefs in non-violence. Was it justifyible? I can't make that call. I am simply the narrator. My conclusion is just as valid or invalid as yours is. It's all open to interpretation. But I have gut feeling that Double D would go to the past and stop the entire situation from happening if he could.

Double D just didn't feel like himself anymore. His inner thoughts tormented him. His mind raced. His forehead had beads of sweat rolling down. Drip after drip they fell down to his shirt. his perspiration was causing him great fatigue. As if Double D didn't already feel enough fatigue as it was. But know it was just total exhaustion. Full, total exhaustion. The very things that made his brain tick were all at once flipped over to reveal his deep, hidden emotions. The emotions he had never wanted to be made visible before. They were like the phantom menaces, tormenting him and causing his life to tumble around, yet still remaining unseen by his peers. The very things that plauged him were coming back to haunt him, in a very unusal way.

Walking through the door, Double D felt the cold force of the air conditioned house hit him fully in the face. It relieved much of his heat exhaustion, though he still felt the actual fatigue to be quite overwhelming. He couldn't help but close his eyes, the emotional weight being enough to force them shut no matter how he tried. It was almost as if they were closed by fore, not by his own intentions. As if someone was trying to show him something. Something he needed to see. Something he needed to know.

Closing his eyes, he felt like he was falling into a deep sleep. His mind wandered off to a place that was known, but unknown. Visual, but non visual. It was weird, strange, etc.

Then he could see something. Though it seemed like nothing at first, he tossed it off as nothing. He practically just disregarded it. But after several more moments, the image began to focus, more and more. The more he looked into his thoughts, the crisper the picture became. The clearer the thought started to become. He could still only see a clearer blur though, because the picture was still not coming into full detail. But he could make an outline of what he thought it was. He could see some blue, a little black, some green maybe. Still fuzzy, but much more concentrated.

Eventually he could start to make out a face. An oval shaped head. A crooked smile. Two opaque, oval shapped blue oceans that were eyes. Three carefully placed freckles below the eyes. Those eyes that captivated him. That toyed with his emotions. That pulled at his very sould and made him think beyond what was already there. A feeling of comfort and non-worry. He could feel no wrong when he looked into those eyes. Those eyes of affection, and of beauty. A head of short, blue hair that graced him like a large field of beauty, sweeping over all the good feelings that came over him. That sinister grin, those lovely eyes, that wonderful face. It was all coming to him. The image was crystal clear. He could see everything. Everything that he hoped for, right before his eyes and dwelling in his inner-most thoughts. That image...

Several hours later, it was roughly nine o'clock, plus or minus a minute or two. Double D woke up to find himself still lying on the living room floor, in front of the door. His face was buried deep into the carpet, and a slight smile was over his face. He had stared into that image for hours in his sleep. That image was now implanted into his brain for good. It was there to stay. And yet, he could feel that it was almost as if it had been there all along. As if he was born with that image in his mind, and even more so in his soul.

He climbed the stairs. Those dreaded, awful stairs up to his room. The walk was not long, nor tiring, but relieving for the most part. He opened the door to his bedroom, taking his shoes off and placing them in the designated box before he went it. The widow was open, and let in a light breeze. The curtains rustled as the light when when from one point to another, never following a straight path.

Double D took and laid down on his bed. Not even bothering with putting on pajamas or anything. He just didn't feel like fooling with them. For the first time in his life, he had broken his cycle of routines and rituals for another option. He felt a little bit freed by doing this, as he just laid on his side, facing the other end of the room and the open window. He could see some slight shadows dancing among the street lights, though he paid little mind to it.

He just laid there and slowly closed his eyes again. He had to see that image again, that image that would just not leave his thoughts.

That image of Marie Kanker, the girl he'd always loved...


	2. Chapter II

Chapter II

_"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."  
**-Dr.**_** Seuss**

At the same time earlier that day as everyone in the cul-de-sac was returning to their normal acitivities, the Kankers were also doing their usual things: washing clothes. All except Marie. She was sitting on the step still, with her head in her hands, crying.

"Why, oh why did he have to hurt Edd?" she said through her sobs. She was very emotionally detatched from the fact that Double D had indeed, been injured by someone else.

"What's wrong sis?" Lee asked as she came and sat down beside her sister, concerned. Normally Lee never got too serious about this kind of thing, and rarely did she ever try to make a sisterly connection with her.

"That hat wearin' punk hurt Double D!" Marie replied. Of course, she was refering to Kevin.

"So, you hurt him all the time. What gives?" Lee said, figured that there was a little bit of skewed logic here. She didn't follow where Marie was getting with this.

"You just don't understand why I do that to him. Why I have always done it!" Marie fired back, and then burst out another load series of sobs. She was finally coming out with her hidden feelings. The feelings that she had masked for years.

"Okay then," Lee said in a calm demeanor, " why do you hurt him?"

"Because ." Marie sniffled back some more tears, "because ." she now leaned into Lee's ear and whispered. "because I mask my true feelings for him!" The proverbial cat busted out of the bag.

"You, got feelins for Double D?" Lee responded, calm and not surprised, but almost relieved. She had known that Marie had a little crush on Marie, but the girls had never really had a discussion over feelings before. It was just one of those topics they didn't get into. And to be blunt, would we expect the Kankers of all people to get into in-depth discussions on feelings? I wouldn't.

Marie nodded back through sniffles. Words escaped her at the moment, and she just couldn't find a good footing.

"Well," Lee said, "why don't you tell 'em? I always thought the two of ya would make a cute couple!"

Now, we can take that in the most shocking of ways. But why would Lee of all people want Double D and Marie to get together? Well, for one thing, Lee secretly cares about people. She just doesn't want to show it, because she thinks that it makes her weak. But now was different. She could tell that her sister really needed her. And nothing came before her sisters. She just wanted them to be happy, that's all.

"Because I'm scared he wouldn't want me back and then I would never have a chance to be with him." Marie was putting too much doubt in herself. She was scared that her biggest dream would turn into her worst nightmare. The thought of Double D just tossing her to the side was enough to make her mind throb.

"Why wouldn't he wanna be with ya?" Lee asked. She could think of no reason why someone like Double D wouldn't fall for a pretty girl like Marie was.

"Well ., because he is smart, handsome, cute, did I say handsome?" she said smiling, "and I am ugly and dumb!" she started crying again. she had always had this image of herself that she was not good enough. Then again, she had been called things like "ugly" all her life. Now was no different. Those things that had been repeated to her year after year were just coming back to haunt her.

"Hey now, don't ever say that! Men are just onions, you gotta peel 'em back one layer at a time! All ya gotta do is get inside that big brain of his and he'll fall for ya in no time!" Lee said as she smiled a genuine, sisterly smile. She was just trying to help her sister in any way she could.

"You really think so Lee?" Marie said as she brought her head back up. Her crying had stopped, and it was over with for the most part.

"I know so, now, let's get inside, soap operas are comin' on in a few minutes. HEY MAY, soaps are on in five , so you betta get finished with those clothes so you can get me a soda!"

Lee was just trying to cheer Marie up. She knew her sister was feeling horrible, and a good pep-talk always does the trick, doesn't it?

"Lee, I think you know where you can shove that soda AND these clothes!" May screamed.

The girls chuckled, and lightened Marie's mood slightly. After all, a good mood cleanser is necesarry in all walks of life.

Lee now turned back to Marie and said,

" Marie, listen up, after the soaps go off, me, you, and May are gonna come up with a plan to get you and that brainy man of yours together."

A plan. A plan. Everyone seems to have a plan these days. Whether it be me, or you, or anyone else, we all seem to have a plan for everything. It seems the more organized our thoughts are, the more carefully we can pull them off. This whole situation being no different.

"Okay." said Marie, and the three went inside. The Kankers were, for the first actual time, acting as sisters for the "greater good" of something. And that was the heartache Marie felt.

Gee, Double D, you sure did give Kev the ole one two back there!" Eddy said as the three Eds walked down the alley.

"Yes Eddy, but I can't believe I resorted to violence, which may I add is never the answer. I feel horrible." Said Double D.

"Oh pipe down Sockhead, he had it comin' for a long time." Eddy said.

"Yeah Double D," Ed said, "it reminded me of the time Slug-U-La took down Captain Brainpan using his photon eyestalks, -" he got cut off by Eddy.

"Shut up lumpy, no one wants to hear about your stupid horror stories. Anyway, my main reason for bringing this up is that now Nazz has broken up with Kevin, and I am goin' in for the kill."

"Well Eddy," said Double D, "it seems highly reasonable that you and Nazz could get into a relationship."

"You don't have to tell me twice Double D!" Eddy replied as he slicked back his hair.

"Well gentlemen, I would love to stay , but I must be going home, as I am suffering from excruciating pains, and feel it would be best to go lie down." Double D said.

"Se ya later Sockhead." Eddy said.

"See ya Double D." Ed said.

And that was when Double D went home as we described earlier. The events happened accordingly.

Back at the trailer, the three Kankers had just finished watching their programs. Lee turned to May.

"Hey May, Marie go bit by the love bug."

"Really, she's finally goin' after Double D?" May remarked. It was almost like if it was damned evidence being analyzed at this point. It seems like everyone already knew what the deal was from the very begininning. And there was no lawyer of love to get Marie out of this one. If love would was a lawyer, it'd be a criminal defense. Because the only thing more criminal than not having love is defending why you don't have love.

"That's right, and we, as here sisters, are gonna get that stubborn egg head and her, together." Lee said, looking at Marie with a grin, exposing her multi-facited smile

Marie blushed heavily, and looked down at her shoes. She was still not completely comfortable with the whole idea of her sisters being so involved with the love she had for Double D.

Did I just,... did I just go there? Did I just say that Marie Kanker was _in love _with Double D? Indeed I did. I did. Because she was. And is. And always will till the end of time.

Love isn't something you find. Love is something that finds you. *

"Ah, pipe up Marie, you ain't got notin' to be embarrassed about." Lee said as she punched Marie in the shoulder, in a sisterly way.

"It's just that," Marie said, "I thought that you would be mad as heck at me for wanting to get a boyfriend."

"Well," Lee said, "I kinda was at first, but after I thought about it, you're almost 15, and it's about time you went out and got you one, and you ain't gonna find no better than Double D."

"Yeah Marie," May chimed in, "he's really smart."

Marie still sat there, blushing.

Lee said, "See Marie, if it was anyone else, I would go crazy, but I know Double D will treat ya nice and love ya."

"Alright girls," said Lee, "here's the plan, Marie, you're gonna go to Double D and tell him you need math turtorin' for next school year, and of course he will, he is too sweet to deny it. From there all ya gotta do is make 'em know who ya are, and he can't refuse ya!"

And indeed that was Lee's logic. She could see that oh so legible writing on the wall. If Double D didn't become her boyfriend, then someone else would. And that someone would be some alcoholic rapist that would rape Marie everyday and everything she had. Dignity included. I know it sounds a little melodramatic, but it is the truth. If Marie can't get Double D to be her boyfriend, some horny sick fuck would. (excuse the language). And if it's the last thing Lee wanted for her sister Marie, it was that.

It was a brand new day in the cul-de-sac. It was a Friday, and all the kids were doing there usual things. Double D was busy doing laundry, Ed was watching _Attack of the Giant Mushrooms_ in his room, Jimmy and Sarah were playing dollies in Sarah's room, Eddy was sitting outside Nazz's house, with a bouquet of flowers. Johnny was stuck in a tree.

In the middle of the street, Eddy saw a figure walking.

"Is that Marie Kanker?" he asked himself. The Kankers didn't bother him much anymore. In fact, he had made mends with them after the incident with his brother, so he didn't really care. He saw here go up to Double D's house with a book in her hand.

"Uh oh," Eddy said in a playful tone, "Sockhead is cashin' in on the ladies. Didn't think he had it in 'em. I guess some of the ole Eddy charm must have rubbed of on 'em."

As Double D was folding bath towels, he heard his door bell ring. Double D just gets so warped into his chores and duties, he will typically tune out anything extraneous like that. But rarely did some one ring his door bell.

Marie stood on the stop going up to his front door as she rang the door bell. It was a unique sound of the _Tylenol _theme. She couldn't help but giggle at this silly litle side note. It's the equivilent of me have the Law & Order theme as a ringtone.

Duh-Duh.

Marie stood at the door, just as worried and nervous as she could possibly be. She had no idea how to make Double D realize her sincerity. She wanted to be completely honest with him.

"Oh heavens, I wonder who that could be."

He skidded down the hall and said "Coming!"

He opened the door to find Marie Kanker. That girl who had just hours ago haunted his very dreams. That girl that he had invisioned as the most beautiful angel ever put on this world. And was fully willing to admit that. But this beautiful girl stood before him. The wavy blue hair, that grin, that impeckably devilsh grin that forced his thoughts to think things they had never thought before. Thoughts that made him readjust his whole theory of Marie as a person. As a loved one. As a destiny.

"Hi Double D, " said Marie, waving. "I was wondering if you could help me out with something?"

Double D stood there, deep red and sweating.

Uh, s-s-s-sure M-m-m-marie, please, step in."

Marie stepped in to see sticky notes everywhere, and a nervous Double D. Something came to Double D. He couldn't quite pinpoint it. It was something about her. He had felt this feeling before. That face he had seen somewhere else before. But where? Was Marie Kanker really the villian he thought she was, or was she really just an anti-hero trying to break out. Was Marie really that girl he had been hoping to find all his life? Was she really that one girl just for him? Impossible, or maybe not. That conflict he had in his inner most thoughts was coming back to repeat that reoccuring image he had. That thumping in his mind, that image, which had been so blurry and fuzzy before, when the Kankers had been up to those usual things. That image was slowly becoming more and more focused. That writing on the wall was more and more legible. That feeling was more and more persuasive. All his life he had been fighting that urge. That gravitating feeling of her face. Double D couldn't help but click in his mind: he had always had a crush on Marie Kanker. What? Did I just...did I just go there? Did I admit the most obvious thing that is on everyone's mind? Maybe so. You'll have to decide that for yourself though. I merely present the facts as they are given. For some reason, some unknown, captivating reason, he felt so much more comfortable with her around him. It was like a void was being filled. Something came in with Marie. Something Double D knew had to be true.

_Love walked right in and drove the shadows away ;_  
_Love walked right in and brought my sunniest day._  
_One magic moment, and my heart seemed to know_  
_That love said "Hello !",_  
_Though no a word was spoken._

_One look and I forgot the gloom of the past ;_  
_One look and I had found my future at last._  
_One look and I had found a world completely new,_  
_When love walked in... with you._

"You don't have to be so nervous Edd, I am not gonna hurt you or anything." said Marie in a sweet, calming way, a side of her Double D had never seen, and quite frankly, turned him on. He could see through the cover up. He could see through the mask. He could look into her, and see the person that she really was. He could see Marie.

"Well, would you like anything Marie, a refreshment of some sort?"

"Sure cutie, whatta have?"

"Well we have water, green tea, Dr. Pepper, and plenty of other beverages." Dobule D said, not really sure of what to say. He had never been in this situation before. It was all too new to him.

"Hmmm." Marie said, tapping her foot onto the ground. So trivial of decisons, so little time. Double D just looked to the ground, because honestly, he was too embarrased to look her in the eyes. The thought of that was all too real to him now. That image was crystal clear now. It was of Marie.

"Hmmm, you choose." she finally said, pretty much playing a little game with him.

"M-m-m-m-me choose?" he asked, almost as if she had spoken in another language.

"Yeah, guess. Anything's fine to me." Marie said. And to be quite frank, this whole situation was new to her as well. She mirrored a lot of the same feelings that Double D was feeling.

"Quite, yes, well, I shall return momentarily." he said, swifting around and heading for the door that led into the kitchen. In his mind, this had to be a dream. But reality said otherwise.

As Double D went into the kitchen, he was shocked by a number of things, namely the way Marie had called him "Edd" and how polite she was. That was something he had never seen before. And this whole refreshment business was a little more than just grabbing some beverages. Double D was also choosing his love and giving it to her. That is what it was, and what it was was love.

He came back with water for himself and the soda for Marie. He gently handed it to her, as she grasped the frosty glass that exited his hand and entered hers. The condensation was enough to make it slip from her hands, and it did. The glass fell and shattered all over the floor, causing a big mess all over. The carbonated soft drink ran in streaks all around the carpet, leaving only a brown memory of what had happened. Marie was mortified. The glass was like her proverbial guts, being spilled before God and everybody in a manner only plausible by metaphor, and not really by reality. If she had just slowly grabbed the glass instead of going in as fast as possible, she would not have caused the big mess that she did. She just stood there, mortified, not knowing what to do or say.

"Double D, I..., I..." she started, not even begininning to fathom words to express her upset feeling, nor the anger she felt at herself for the way she had acted.

"Don't, don't worry Marie. This is quite a simple fix. Just let me grab a few things." Double D said, hastely running for the cleaning supply cabinet. He grabbed towels, stain removal, and anything else that he think would work. Rushing back, he started to heavily scrub the floor, so much so that he could have lit the carpet on fire. He wiped back and forth, back and forth. His face showed that of anger, at himself, and bottled up feelings that could make a champaigne bottle burst from pressure.

Marie just looked at him with mixed feelings. She couldn't quite decipher what was going on. This was just too much for the both of them. It was staring both of them straight in the face, but neither one of them could look it straight in the eye.

"Here Double D, let me help..." Marie said, kneeling down to try to help.

"Oh, that's quite alright Marie, but I've got it under control." Double D said, continuing to scrub away. He was not just scrubbing this physical stain away. He was trying to scrub this mental feeling away as well. But he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. Marie did not hesitate whatsoever, and grabbed a rag and started scrubbing also. She didn't want to scrub this mental image away. In fact, in a way, she wanted to frame it and keep it forever. But would she though, that is the thing.

After a couple minutes of continuous scrubbing, the stain was gone, and one wouldn't be able to tell it had ever been created. However, the more they scrubbed, the more the two exposed their feelings for each other. The more layers were peeled back. The more you could see into the real heart and soul of these two, both alike in dignity. It was really something.

Double D and Marie were finally standing back up, and for that one time, they glanced into each others eyes. It was almost too powerful. Too much. Like you were really seeing beyond.

Double went to put away his supplies, and came back to just see Marie standing there, saying nothing, but just pacing, and talking to herself. He stood back behind the wall, and looked on in concealment, watching what she was doing and listening to what she was saying.

"Why am I so stupid? He'll never like me, especially if I keep scewin' up like I do. Why do I have to be such an ugly, unwanted piece of nothing? No one will ever love me. I'm only kiddin' myself by trying this. I can't get him out of my mind, he's just there. But he hates me too,...always has. And now he'll never wanna look at me again. Stupid. I'm just,...just,...a nobody."

Marie wept.

Double D couldn't help but feel the most sympathy in the world for here. She had no one. Even her own family didn't like her. She was drifting through this life, not knowing where to go or why to do anything. She had no real motive to even live, in her mind at least. Somehow this whole scene was so vaguely familiar. I mean, we all have those deja-vu moments, but this was ridiculous.

Double D just could sit idely by and allow this to happen. He knew all to well what the outcome would be if he didn't do something. Suicide. Marie was at that point. There are a certain amount of dead ends a person hits before they run off the cliff. And if it's one thing Double D didn't want, it would be Marie taking the one thing that gave him the hope to carry on. Her life. His life. Their life. One life.

He approached her, though, and gentle walked toward her as he saw her, scrunched up on the floor, weeping, like,...some,...grandmother. It was like she had been shot with a diamond, straight through her heart. It ripped her very will to think rationaly, it,...it cause her to rethink the very essence of what her life was, and what it would be. She had nothing but fear. Fear,...that she would just spin in this constant cycle of self-draining thoughts. She had done everything in her will power to mask that. But no mask in the world can hide what is already unseen. You're just masking what is already masked. There is no easy way to describe it, but this feeling,...forced her emotions to make a double take. Was she really falling into that same cycle, or was there something to stop it all together.

"Marie, what on Earth is the matter?" Double D asked, kneeling down beside her. Double D felt this, overall urge to help others. It was a call of duty that he couldn't ignore. He had a habit of only seeing the good in people. But the one person he had failed to do that with was indeed Marie. He felt it was high time to do just that.

"Oh, nothing, nothing." she said, quickly wiping away any trace of tears that could have been seen. However, she couldn't, not matter how hard she tried.

"I saw you crying Marie." Double d said, placing his hand on her shoulder. That touch, that touch had a thousand feelings going into one. That touch was beyond magic. That touch was like the starting gun at a race, and signaled the begininning of what was to come. It was the start of the race. It was that saving grace.

"Oh, one of the pieces of glass must have got in my eyes or something, I don't know." Marie said, rexamining her situtation.

"Well, let me see." Double D said, as he turned his head and looked into her eyes. She was reluctent at first, but felt that lock into herself.

It happened. They peered at each other. Their eyes complimented the situation with an almost,...mezmorizing quality. It was something that was so obvious, it could be ignored. They couldn't tel right off the bat what it was. I couldn't tell etiher, until rethinking it over some.

What it was, was love.

The two stood up, obviously more atuned to what was going on now. Most doubt had been erased, however there was some that lingered. In all honesty, there is always a bit of doubt, even in the face of the most obvious thing imaginable. Both straightened themselves out, and somehow got back to the orginal topic at hand.

"So Marie, what are you here for?"

"I'll tell you as sood as we find somewhere to sit."

"Where do you want to go to sit?"

"I was hoping, up to your room." Marie said, giggling.

"M-m-m-m-my r-r-r-r-r-room?"

"Yes silly, come on." Marie grabbed his hand and up the stairs they went, into Double D's room. He blushed as his dream had come true: Marie was holding his hand.

Marie sat down on his bed, while Edd took his desk chair. He turned around to face Marie.

_It is difficult to know at what moment love begins; it is less difficult to know that it has begun.  
_**_-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_**

**_* Audrey Hepburn_**


	3. Chapter III

On a note, here is the link for the song that is coming up later, if it helps set the mood or scene any.

watch?v=FvzNeh4Mq1o

And the second one,  
watch?v=061kkZU8gPY

Chapter III

"So Marie, why are you here?" Double D retorted, even though he didn't really care why she was there, as long as she was there.

"Well, the school told me I couldn't go to high school unless I either went to summer school for math, or got someone to tutor me, and I figured as sweet as you are, you would tutor me." Marie said, making up the entire excuse. She could hardly keep herself together while she did it, and found it increasingly difficult to keep a straight face as those false words left her mouth. She couldn't believe the first acutual conversation she was having with Double D was all a lie.

"My word Marie, of course I will assist you in your academic studies." Double D said. He was just too much of a caring person to not accept her invitation. Plus this was the one oppurtunity he would have to "make his move," if you could call it that. He just didn't want to blow this. This whole experience was just so new to him. He felt so awkward doing this, yet he felt so right. The feelings continued to be quite conflicting, but that's being a teenager for you. You just never know.

Marie got up, and ran over to Double D and hugged him. She just couldn't hold that feeling back anymore. It was almost a marienette string pulling her closer and closer to that point of the embrace. It was a gravitating feeling of love that neither could ignore. They both accepted that fact of what it was.

And what it was, was love.

Marie went and hugged Double D with a type of hug he had never recieved before. This hug was different from those "love squeezes" he had recieved in the past from Marie. It was different than that. It was heart felt, genuine. As if a thousand emotions all came out of this at once. All those things Marie had been storing up in her soul, all those feelings, she was finally couragous enough to give them to Double D through a hug. This hug was more than just a physical sign of the feelings they mutually felt, but it was also a sign of how they had now connected on an emotional level. Double D couldn't tell why, Marie could off-handily tell why, and of course I know why. But the thing is, their feelings had now, in a way, been brought together.

"Thanks Double D, you're the sweetest guy in the world." she said as she gripped him tightly in her arms. Again, this was a lover's hug, not a friends. It was a hug that was made out of pure, unaltered love. Marie's head rested on the lowly shoulder of Double D. She meant every single one of those words with the most sincere meaning possible. She meant every single feeling that she felt in her heart. It was the type of feeling that both Double D and Marie just couldn't ignore anymore. It was almost as if they both knew everything they had ever felt about each other.

"You are quite welcome Marie, you are a very nice lady yourself." Double D told her into her ear, which was right directly next to his lips. He, though quite awkwardly and strangely, gripped her in his hands as well. Though his grip wasn't quite as tight as hers was, he still didn't want to let go. If he did let go, he knew that feeling wouldn't be the same. In a way, he felt like she completed ever aspect of him. And him with her. It was out of two, one formed.

The two still sat there, embracing each other in possibly the most awkward, yet beautiful way. I can't really describe it, but it is that feeling of knowing when you've got a good thing, and you have it too. It is just a touching scene. Neither of them wanted it to end.

After about five minutes, Marie felt a stiffness against her thigh. She didn't want to say anything, but there was that very devilishness about her that made her want to say something. She didn't want to embarrass Double D , no. She just wanted to toy around with him a little. She felt that their feelings were advanced enough to do these little pokes at each other. After all, with something comes everything.

"Wow Double D," she said, "you must have not been hugged by a girl before." She said pointing down and giggling. She tried to make it as normal, yet as awkward as possible. Basically, she was trying to let Double D know that she was just as embarrassed about the situation as Double D was. She wanted him to know that what he was feeling, she was feeling too.

Double D followed her point and looked down. He knew what she was talking about, though he wanted to almost mask that he knew.

"Curse my natural hormonal impulses!" he shrieked as a very warped and bizzare face came over him. It was very strange. He didn't want to come over as overly innocent, because he felt that would turn Marie off from him (we all know Marie is a little on the wild side anyway). He didn't pick up on it first, so he just let her have her fun. But then again, he believed that whatever Marie thought was best anyway. He was already becoming a wise man when it comes to women. He soon joined Marie in the giggling.

The two had gotten so involved with their awkward moments with each other that they had forgotten the whole reason Marie was there in the first place. And did it really matter anyway? I mean, when love makes a detour, do any of us really ignore it? Think about that before answering...

"So Double D, I am going to ask you something, if you don't mind." She said is a quasi-nervous voice. She didn't know how quite to ask him something, though she found it much easier now that she knew he wasn't terrified of her anymore.

"Certainly, not at all." he said.

"Would you like to,…., to come over to the trailer some time so we can talk a little more, you know, get to know each other a little more? I mean, I have a _thousand _things I don't know about you. I wanna know more. " Marie felt like a thousand pound weight had been lifted off of her.

"You mean, like a da-" Double D had started before Marie cut him off with her finger going to his lips. For this one moment, she didn't want him to say another thing. Women and these mind games.

"Okay,..." Marie said with her usual chuckle that she gave after most things. That sinister grin. Double D couldn't tell what his emotions were doing right now. He knew it was better not to question it.

"Well, I was quite impressed with you tonight, so, I couldn't possibly pass up a girl quite as nice and beautiful as yourself." Double D told her with a grin of his own. He didn't know if he had initiated this whole thing or not. Had he? Or had she? Honestly, I don't think anyone is keeping track at this point.

Marie blushed as Double D had just called her "nice and beautiful", something she had never been called before by anybody. Those words carried quite a weight about them that I don't think she even fully understood. Someone had finally looked past her faults and saw her for who she really was: a caring young woman who had a heart of gold and a soul of equal worth. But everyone she knew was too selfish to realize that. No one was willing to give her a chance. Double D was.

Double D, respectfully, felt as if a thousand pound weight had been lifted off. The true love ways of both had been revealed. It's this type of stuff that dreams are made of. But not with Edd and Marie. Their's was the stuff reality was made of.

Marie ran and hugged Double D again. She just couldn't help the emotions that were shaking the very foundation of her life. These emotions dwelled with in, causing her to rethink all the things in her life, and all the things in her thoughts. Double D was slowly but surely becoming everything to her. Her heart only had room for one guy, one great guy that she loved more than life itself.

"Double D, you're the best!" Marie said as she come back from the embrace and looked into his face. Her smile was as big as her heart right now.

"And you are as well." Double D said. He didn't know how to quite to formulate the words. They didn't come too convincing to him, but he was just as satifyed with the awkward babble he had produced than anything else. As long as it was him, love could be the linguist everyday of the week.

"Well, it's about time I go." Marie said. To be honest, she wished that it wasn't, because it really meant a lot to her.

"Why don't I walk you to the door." a very nervous Double D said. This was pretty much, and for all intents and purposes, the first time Double D had ever willingly did anything with Marie Kanker. Let's just make that clear.

"Well, let's go cute stuff!" She said, as they held hands and walked down the stairs, down the hall, and to the door. The smiles on their faces was only matched by the smiles in their hearts. Their souls shinned with a light untouched. Love's light.

"Well, " Marie said, "why don't you come over tomorrow night at 7:00, I'll have the trailer to myself. My mom will be working and Lee and May will be gone."

"Sure, tomorrow at seven, splendid. Good night Marie." he said.

"Night, boyfriend." Marie said as she grabbed Double D and kissed him, and he, for the first time, enjoyed it and kissed her back.

"Well, you didn't think I would leave without my kiss, did you?" Marie said, as she walked out the door, waving, and went down the street.

About a minute after she left, Double D closed the door and sat down on the floor.

"Magnificent," he said to himself," I finally see Marie's real side. Her real love. And I can't get enough!"

He also couldn't get passed the fact that she had called him "boyfriend." He was finally was in a relationship, a loving relationship, and it was with a Kanker. But he didn't let that bother him. He knew the old saying "love is blind" and started singing I Only Have Eyes For You:

My love must be a kind of blind love

I can't see anyone but you.

Edd went to sleep that night, dreaming of Marie and their date tomorrow.

It was now 9:00 that Saturday morning. Double D has just finished up his Saturday chores and was now watering Jim the Cactus. Eddy had already gotten up and dressed, heading to get Ed.

"Get up lumpy, we gotta go get Double D up!" Eddy said as he crawled through Ed's entrance window.

"I'm as ready as my middle toe!" Ed said in his usual, goofy voice.

"Shut up Ed." Eddy replied.

The two walked over to Double D's and climbed up the drain pipe and through the window into his room. Double D was talking to Jim as the two came in.

"Good morrow gentleman. And what a lovely morning it is." Double D said who was still filled with the love of last night.

"Okay Double D, spill it," Eddy said, "You gotta girlfriend now don't you?" he said with the cheesiest smile ever.

"Go ahead, you can admit it Sockhead. I saw Marie Kanker over here."

What on earth are you talking about Eddy?"

"Marie, sockhead, Marie!" Eddy said.

"Oh, why yes, Marie was here."

"Well Double D," Eddy said in a pseudo-angry tone. Double D stood wincing, expecting Eddy's wrath for him liking a Kanker.

Eddy finished his sentence, "I am wicked proud of ya!" he said, while giving Double D a friendly puch.

"Whayta go bucky-o!" Ed said.

"Well gentlemen," said Double D, " I am quite baffled that you are this accepting, seeing how both of you feel about the Kankers."

"Well Double D," Eddy said putting his arms around Double D's shoulders, " if my idiot, good-for-nothing brother taught me anything last year, it was that being a jerk will get you nowhere in life besides a run-down amusement park and a dumpy whale shaped trailer." Eddy said with a genuine, friend-like smile.

"Excellent life less Eddy!" Double D replied.

"Besides, I am too busy goin' after Nazz to care about it. I am just glad you got a girl now, who you can babble on to about all your boring science baloney." Eddy said.

And what about you, Ed? Double D asked, for some reason expecting a heart felt answer.

"A friend of Double D is a friend to Ed's big toe!" Ed said, smiling. The three laughed at this, as they were now closer as true friends then ever before.

"Thank you, gentlemen, you both are truly good friends, I enjoy both of you." Edd said, smiling, and walking toward Ed and Eddy.

"Alright now, Double D," Eddy said, "don't get all mushy on us , you got a girlfriend to do that to now. Speaking of, you got any plans for tonight?"

"As a matter of fact Eddy, Marie and myself do have a date tonight at her trailer."

"Alright sockhead!" Eddy exclaimed, "Anyway, I gotta get goin', Nazz awaits."

"And I have gravy to make!" Ed said.

"See ya Sockhead, and good luck tonight." Eddy said, going out the window.

"See ya Double D!" Ed said.

"Salutations gentlemen, and good day!" Double D said as his friends climbed down the drainpipe on their way.

Back at the Kanker trailer, Marie was and her sisters were dicussing Marie's date tonight.

"Jesus Marie, I thought you were never gonna shut up about Double D in your sleep last night!" Lee scoffed at Marie.

Marie blushed heavily.

"Just kiddin'." Lee said.

"Marie," said Lee, "we gotta get you to the store to get some clothes, for ya hot date tonight."

"Nonsense Lee, I'll just wear some of my old church clothes." Marie retorted.

"You kiddin', " said Lee, "we gotta get you some nice clothes, some make up, the works."

"Yeah Marie, you gotta look nice for Double D." May said.

"Okay, let's go." Marie said.

The three sisters left for Under Wraps, the local discount clothing store.

"Alright Marie, we got 50 bucks, so that is all we can spend." Lee said.

They went over to the dress section.

"Oooo. I like this one Lee!" Marie said, looking at a navy blue dress that came down to the knees and had a white collar, and a white belt.

It was also only $12 to boot.

"Is it in your size Marie?" Lee asked.

"Yeah." Marie answered.

"Well, I love it." Lee said, "and so will your man."

"Yeah Marie," May said, "it matches you perfect!"

"Now all we need to do is get you some matching boots and pantyhose to match." Lee said.

After a few minutes looking, Marie found a nice pair of white high hell boots that came up to her ankle. She also found a nice pair of white pantyhose that would go nice with the dress. She already had a nice bra at home.

In total, the dress, boots, and pantyhose were $32.50. Marie paid the cashier.

As they were leaving the store, Lee said,

"Marie, this is gonna be a night to remember." Lee said as they walked out and down the street.

And truly it would be. Because the lives of our favorite kids would never be the same again...

_We, might have been meant for each other..._

_To be, or not to be, _

_Let our hearts dis-cov-er. _

_I have a feelin', it's a feelin', I'm concealin', _

_I don't know why. _

_It's just a mental, _

_incidental, _

_sentimental alibi. _

_But I adore you,..._

_So strong for you... _

_Why go on stallin,' _

_I'mma fallin', _

_Love is callin', _

_Why be shy...?_


	4. Chapter IV

Chapter IV

The day that had come before brought much anexity and dare I say love to the two kids who had been so heavily affected by each other.

Now, one could look at this whole thing and come to the conclusion that Double D and Marie rushed right into this whole dating business. Almost as if it happened by the snap of one's fingers. And your assumptions would be correct if you only looked at the outer part of this whole theory. But for this one has to look deeper. Deeper into this strange puzzle.

Now, many of you are probably thinking about "love at first sight." But what is love at first sight? Well, like most things, it comes from classical Greek thinking. In Ancient Greek thought, _theia mania _(literally translated, _madness from the gods) _is used to describe what happens when true love begins between two people. In this, Eros, or Cupid, uses metaphorical "love darts" in order to pierce the recipient's soul and inject their memory with the image of their lover. This image causes there mind to focus almost solely on the love they have for that person.

Now, let me be perfectly clear, Double D and Marie aren't completely in this yet. There are still a lot of line to be crossed still. Still many bridges to be built. But, for the most part, what was done was done.

Now, symbolism aside, no one can doubt the fact that Double D was greatfully changed by all of this. He was finally going to be able to look into the vivid details, the obscure, strange details that made up the life of the girl he loved, Marie. He was finally going to be able to see what was the shaping force behind the veil of Marie's life.

And boy, is he in for one wild ride.

Double D was busy in his room. Preperation should have been his middle name, if it wasn't already Dante. He had just showered and put on his best clothes - a navy blue sport coat, white dress shirt, navy tie, and navy pants with black dress shoes. He looked in the mirror as he tied his tie.

He wanted to look his absolute best for Marie. He knew that deep in her mind, she didn't care at all what he wore, as long as his was there. But he wanted to make a good impression. He wanted to make such an impact that it would proverbally, and possibly even literally, sweep her off her feet, and land her in his arms. He wanted to forever solidify that image into her heart, for now and ever more.

"Well Edward," he said to himself, "you look rather dashing today." He couldn't help but compliment himself.

He picked up the roses he had hand picked out of his own garden and walked out the door. Need I say more?

Double D walked out of the cul-de-sac, past the construction site, and into the trailer park. Never before had he been anxious to enter the park. He started sweating due to nervousness. Now was the chance, now was the time. The time he had only dreamt about for three years. Now it was all up to this. Now, now is the time.

Inside the trailer, Marie had showered, shaved her legs, and dressed. Looking in the mirror, she applied her make up and brushed her hair. She finally felt beautiful, she finally felt worth something. She didn't just feel like some nobody. She had finally found that someone who made her somebody. All her life, she had been engrained with this idea that she could achieve nothing in her life, but she had achieved everything through Double D.

Lee and May were on either side of here.

"Now listen Marie," Lee said, in a soft maternal voice, "if you really want this relationship to work out, you have to connect with him and make it work."

"Lee, do I look all right?" Marie asked. For some reason, she still had doubt in her appearence. Of course she is quite beautiful, gorgeous in fact, but none of that superficious crapola mattered now. All that mattered was the love. The strong, ever-binding love.

"You look gorgeous, Bucky!" Lee replied. And she just wasn't referring to Marie's outter appearnce, but also to her uncaptured and untouched inner beauty.

Just as they were talking, the doorbell rang. The sweetest chime in the world. Second only to another chime both Edd and Marie would hear years later.

Ding, ding, dong...

"Alright May," said Lee, " let's disappear, so Marie and her man can get comfortable."

"Okay Lee!" May said, aggravated.

The two went up the stairs and into the bedroom almost upon instinct. Nothing was to get in the way of this magic moment.

"Hi Double D." she said as she opened the door. She was very nervous, and almost embarrassed to have Double D come into the trailer. She had always been ashamed of her poverty, especially around Double D. The contrast in living standards between herself and Double D was just,...staggering to say the lest.

The Kankers were just playing the poker game of life with the cards they were dealt. In their case, they were always dealt the two jokers and the card with the rules on it. But even through those circumstances, they managed to check and call every single round that came to them. Every single time...

"Hello Marie." he said, nervously as he looked at her dress, and another specific part of her body. Her face. Her beautiful face, her capturing eyes, all sent chills up and down his spine with every second that passed with her looking at him, into him.

"Well, come on cutie!" she said, and led him to the couch. Marie had initiated an action that would lead to a lot more in the future for both of them. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

"Would you like some water?" Marie asked. She was returning the hospitallity that Double D had been so careful to show her the other day.

"Yes, please, thank you." he replied. Inside, he felt like he had just lept off a bridge, but the bungee cord of love was there to catch his fall and bring him bouncing back.

"Comin' right up." she said, exited into the kitchen. This gave Double D a little time for reflection. On himself, on Marie, on well, anything. I mean, tons of things were passing over his mind right now, he couldn't really focus on just one or the other. It was everything.

She came back a minute later with a glass of water for him and a glass of sweet tea for herself. She just stood there for a moment or so, not of vain, but of nervousness. She knew that one wrong move could be the difference between love and hate. That thin line was becoming thinner and thinner as the two progressed from sweethearts to a couple. That thin, thin, line.

"Well, are you gonna stand there all night or are you gonna sit down?" she asked. She was honestly wondering why he hadn't said anything really, or even moved from his position. To be honest, he didn't know what to do at all. His mind was just focusing in and out of the beautiful grace that Marie was omitting from her face.

Double D sat down next to Marie as she snuggled next to him. She wasn't trying to be too physical, just enough to melt Double D's heart just a little, if not complelely. But rushing is always a bad thing, rarely a good thing. But can it be justifyed? Well, you tell me...

"You know Marie," Edd said, "you look absolutely magnificent tonight."

It was true. He was completely taken away by her gentile beauty and he knew, this was the most beautiful girl on the planet.

"Why thank you Edd, and you look quite handsome yourself."

This was also true. She felt he was the most handsome and lovely gentleman on the face of the planet. And no one, no one could take that away.

"Thank you Marie." said a nervous Double D. In his very soul, he could feel that connection, that emotional connection with Marie. It was stonger than knowlege. It was a feeling.

"Double D, you don't have to be so nervous! Everything will be alright? No one is going to steal me from you. I am yours and yours alone." Marie said. She had come out with those words, not of paranoia, but of nervousness. She thought that Double D was aprehensive over the fact that because Marie was beautiful, she was going to be stolen from him. But no one can steal true love. It is locked with a permanent lock.

"I understand Marie, it is just I have never had a real conversation with a girl before, much less a girlfriend." Double D said. Part of him could not indeed believe he was conversating with a female, much less Marie Kanker. But here he was, there she was. It's not just fantasy anymore. It's reality. And it never looked so good.

"Well, all that has changed now, huh?" said Marie.

"However Marie I do have one question…."

"Ask away, Oven Mitt."

"How did it come to be that, well, you and your sisters became, well, so nice over the past year?" said Double D, very anxious to hear the answer.

"Good question Double D. It may get a little personal, so just brace yourself. And you have to, have to promise that you will never repeat what I tell you tonight. Do I have my full trust in you?" Marie said.

"Marie, you will always have faith and trustworthiness in me." Edd replied.

"Well, it all started back before I was born. You see, Lee's dad Butch was killed. I don't know all the details, but he was shot. I think it was over some dispute. Anyway, he was killed back when Lee was a baby. That left her without a daddy. And don't even get me started on my dad." Marie said, as she clenched her fist a little. Double D could tell her emotions were starting to slosh around in her head, and were making her angry and sad at the same time.

"Anyway, and then there's Lee's dad Rod. He's pretty cool. But something happened last summer that made us all change a lot of the stuff we say and do to each other." Marie said, bringing her head back up.

"What was that?" Double D asked her, with general concerning curiousity.

"Well, something happened to Lee. None of us know what it was. She didn't say anything about it for months, but she did say that she saw,...something. But she won't tell us what. When she came back to the house that afternoon, she couldn't stop crying. She cried, and cried for days. And it wasn't just normal crying, she sobbed. Our mom took her to the doctor, but he said that she had a nervous breakdown from all the stress she was under. He said that we should start seeing counselers to get out some of the stuff we had bottled up. We did, and it felt great Double D. It was just wonderful. To finally get all that stuff out in the open, it was great." she said. However, inside, she was bringing all those memories back. She began to tear up from the sheer joy and terror of it all.

Double D embraced Marie and held her head to his chest. "There, there." he said, attempting to console her emotions, "everything is all right darling. I will never let anything happen to you, never."

"Double D, I lo-love you."

Double D had dreamt of this moment for years. Those words had finally been uttered. That proverbial fork had finally been taken out. The cat out of the bag. It was complete truth now. Every word of it. Now, later, in the past, all time. It was true. And truth carries all strength.

"I, I love you too, Marie." he responded. He could feel in his heart of hearts that his statement had full meaning behind every word.

They embraced. With a lover's twing only seen by couples that are, truly in love. This disregarded any doubts anyone ever had before. Marie and Edd were in love.

"But you know Double D," she said, "I have always really, really liked you. At first, when we first moved here, it started out as a crush. I mean, I saw you as different from the others. You were independent. You can think for yourself. You are smart, cute, and oh, so handsome. You're one of the most politie gentlemen I have ever seen. The more I got to know you, the more I wanted you as mine."

"Then why did you do all those things to me, like chase and kiss me?" Double D asked.

"Because, because I had to mask my feelings, because I was afraid you wouldn't like me back. I also had to play along, because if Lee or Eddy would have found out back then, they would have killed us both. But now that they are mature and can accept it, I had to have you for myself."

"But," Double D said, "if you had shown your true self back then, I would have loved you just as much as I do now."

"Maybe so, but now mister, it's time to take things to the next level!" Marie said in a seductive tone. She now mounted Double D by kneeling over him on the couch by putting her hips on his.

Double D turned a deep red.

"N-n-n-next l-le-level?" Double D asked.

"That is," Marie said, "if you want to. I'm not gonna do anything that bad." She said, easing Double D's mind.

"Please, continue." He insisted.

Marie took and pulled Double D's head into hers. The both closed their eyes as Marie signaled for an open mouth kiss. They kissed for about 30 seconds before Double D felt Marie's tongue wrestling his. It was one of the most heavenly feelings he had ever felt. He felt like he was lifting out of the couch, and then felt a slight stiffness.

Marie looked down, "Liftoff," she said.

"Oh, it seems I have been overcome with excitement again, and this time I think I will need to wash my pants."

Marie and himself giggled for about 20 seconds.

"I'll say!" Marie exclaimed, and both lovers giggled again.

Double D now laid down on the sofa, with Marie's head on his chest. They both dozed off, both dreaming about the other. Even in sleep, lovers cannot be separated.

This had been love at first sight. True love, nothing but.

_Love at first sight is not when you see your true love, it's when you feel your true love, and you know.  
Love at first sight is not when you see your true love, and know think that she loves you, no.  
Love at first sight is when you see your true love, and can see your lives together, and know  
that the way you feel now, is the way you'll always feel for her...  
_**_-therealshackleford1_**


	5. Chapter V

Thanks for the reviews. Keep 'em coming.

Here is the youtube link for the song coming up.

watch?v=8OJGi7f9A-c

_ When you can look into another person's soul and see nothing but your own reflection, you know that has to be true love.  
**- ****therealshackleford1**_

Chapter V

The night was not with out love for the two kids we know as Double D and Marie. They both had very unique dreams about each other. Very unique, yet seperate dreams.

Marie's was of course of Double D. Her and Double D sitting in an open area. It wasn't a specific area, if indeed it was an area at all. It was actually more like a void. An open area. Seemingly out of nothing there was a bright spotlight that shown on two people who were sitting on the ground. Those two people were Edd and Marie. They were sitting on the ground, or whatever you would call the bottom of this void. The two were just sitting there, with their hands cupped together in a firm grasp. The grasp so firm that any threat or doubt of letting go was extinguished. And their eyes. Their eyes were locked into each other, so firm, and so subtle. It was not out of anything but true love. When you can look into another person's soul and see nothing but yourself, you know that has to be true love. And it was a love of what the Romans called _amor verum. _True love. Beautiful, sweet love. The kind of love that makes you wonder why there is so much hate in the world. When people can just sit down like this, and exchange emotions, who needs hate?

Double D's dream was a little bit different. His was of Marie and himself walking through a field. An unnamed, and possibly nonexistent generic field you usually picture when you see two lovers walking down these types of scenes. For the most part, there were no words spoken. No faces made. No sense of communication other than that on a spiritual level between the two lovers.

They walked down the soft green field, as I said no noise or anything going on. The only noise that was traceibly audible was that of the beating of the love filled heats of Marie and Double D.

They continued to walk, and walk. They held each other's hands so tight, that one would think they were glued together. But either way, they were together, and that is all that matters, right?

Two lovers, one couple. One true love.

"Alright you two love birds, time to get up." Lee broadcasted into Marie's ears, waking both of them up at the same time.

It was 2 AM. Marie and Double D had been sleeping for 4 hours. My, does time fly or what!

"Alright, bug off Lee!" yelled a grumpy Marie Kanker. She was a little mad at her sister for waking her out of her exciting dream. Let's just say that Marie's dream had progressed into another nature, if you can dig what I'm layin' down.

"My word Marie," exclaimed Double D," we must of dozed off. Well, I have enjoyed our time tonight Marie," he said getting up off the couch, stretching, "but I must be getting home."

"Okay Double D," Marie responded, "how about I come over to your house sometime?"

"My house?" said Double D in a very nervous tone, "well, I will have the house to myself tonight, so you can come over then, darling."

His nervousness was dying down now that his confidence was rising. He was finally getting the hang of this, and for the first time in his life, he finally felt good enough with himself to actually act on those feelings, on those emotions.

"Great," said Marie, "how about tonight at 8:00." Marie said with a gorgeous smile that showed true emotions, one that Double D had never seen and one he could not ignore. A face that he wished had come across his eyes before, but some how it had, in a way. That face was enough to make angels weep for joy.

"Sounds marvelous." replied Double D, with a similar smile. For truly his true, deep down emotions were starting to leak out abundently, and some how, some where, in some distant future, something was happening. Something...

"See ya cutie." Marie said, waving.

"Salutations darling, and I will see you tonight." Double D said, walking out the door and out of the trailer park.

"He's so dreamy." Marie sighed as she sat back down on the couch. Lee had now come back into the room and sat down beside Marie. In her stomach, she could feel that feeling of butterflies flapping around inside, and the sound of their beating wings was enough to make her leap with joy, if she had the energy.

"Ya know Marie," she said, "I never thought I'd ever say this, but you are in love!"

"Yeah." Marie said dreamily. "But you know what's even better than that?"

"What?" Lee asked.

"He's in love with me too."

Those words. Those words. Did I really type them? Did I honestly sit and type those words, or did they come straight from Marie's heart? I can't answer that. It is too much of a loaded question. But I can answer this: Marie meant every word she had spoken, and that's the memo...

"Oh Marie," Lee said, sniffling, "you're gonna make me cry. Now go on and get some sleep, you gotta nother big night tonight."

"Yeah, I can go to sleep so I can dream of him. Night Lee."

"See ya in the morning, Bucko." Lee said.

Marie got up, yawned and stretched, and went into the bedroom.

"Young love," Lee said, "it's a bee-utiful thing."

And I agree with her. Young love, such an innocent and beautiful thing. And no more was it more beautiful than when shared by two young people like Edd and Marie, who will know how to treat it right and make it grow.

Back at his house, Double D had just fumbled through the front door. He was very tired. Not from fatigue, but from the fact that he'd been through so much in the last few days. So many new doors had been presented to him, it was pretty overwhelming to say the least.

He went to sleep, or at least he climbed into his bed. It was completely still outside, and his open window looked out to a waging world of nothingness. A restful world where everything seemed as one. Where everything seemed more atuned, more peaceful, more everything. It all seemed so new, yet so expected. Double D could feel the magic in the air. But it wasn't magic, no. Magic cannot begin to describe what was going on here tonight. It was something else. Something completely different. Double D had an idea of what it was. He pretty much knew what it was.

And what it was, was love.

Lying on his bed, Double D looked up at the ceiling. That ceiling that displayed so many great things. It was not just an open area of sheetrock and paint. It was a canvas that his mind could use to paint the vivid pictures of his new girlfriend Marie. Mental pictures that could say a thousand words, and do a thousand things. Pictures that could describe in detail all their relationship had been through so far. It was pretty amazing to say the least, and caught his mind like nothing esle had in the past.

Up upon the ceiling, he could see his girlfriend, staring down at him with her velvety eyes. Those deep, blue eyes. The feeling and emotion carried by those eyes was more than he could have every hoped to know or understand. The eyes of a thousand feelings, all wrapped up into one neat, unique little girl. Marie was more than just a blue-haired angel sent down to earth for him to have and to hold. She was a girl who no one else understood but him. And in a way, in a lot of ways, that was completely true on almost every level.

He still laid there, still looking up into the vision he had of her. He just couldn't wait until he would be able to see her again, in person. Because he knew that there was nothing quite as sweet or revered as her gorgeous face pressed against his.

Though he tried, he just couldn't get to sleep. He couldn't. His mind was far too heavy with the images and feelings he possessed for Marie. His mind ache at the very thought of her sweet lips against his. That thought was quite thought-provoking, if you get what I mean.

Because he couldn't sleep, he figured he might as well listen to some music. Now, how one goes from doing nothing to listening to music is beyond me, but I guess he figured it just as recreational as anything else at the moment.

He got up and went over to his closet, after having turned his bedroom light on so he could see. Fumbling in the closet, he had finally found it: an old plastic storage bin that sat idely to the side of the of the other assorted boxes that lay around in there. He pulled it out with the best of his strength (let's be realistic, the toat is heavy and we all know that Double D is far from being a strong person) The plastic bin was heavy, leading us to believe Double D has a wide love for music.

"Ah, here it is!" he said, pulling out an old dusty 45 record with the words THE TOKENS and TONIGHT I FELL IN LOVE on it. An old blast from the past written in 1961. Back when music actually had talent in it. Back from a very nostalgic time in American history. And there is no better music to describe love better than doo wop.

"Dusty, dusty, dusty!" he said, wiping it off with a paper towel. Double D was just too much of a neat freak for his own good, and could barely stand the sight of any type of dirt. He pulled out his turntable and plugged it in. Ah, the turntable. Such a magical machine.

Laying the record on it, he placed the needle oh so delicately on the vinyl and laid down on his bed. It was an old early 1960's doo-wop song he felt perfectly described his feelings right now. He closed his eyes as the lyrics started up.

_Dum dooby dum whoa-o _

_Dooby dooby dum dooby dum whoa-o_

_Dum dooby dum dooby dum whoa-o, tonight I fell in love_

_Whoa-o_

_Tonight, tonight I fell in love_

_I want the stars above_

_Cause you know tonight I fell in love_

_Whoa-o _

_(falsetto) oooooh I can't find my way_

_(falsetto) true love is here to stay_

_Cause tonight I fell in love. _

_Oh what a wonder_

_This magic spell I'm under_

_This felling that I feel _

_Is it really real_

_My heart beats so fast_

_I pray that it will last _

_Till the end of time - _

Double D fell asleep, dreaming about Marie. He couldn't stop thinking about her, no matter where he was, or what he was doing. She was always on his mind, and always in his heart.

That blue-haired angel, and swept him away in an ocean of love. He was drowning in it, and he didn't want to be rescued. For he and Marie were meant to be.

And somewhere, in the distant future, a certain bell rang as an angel recieved its wing. And I think we all know what type of bell.


	6. Chapter VI

Here are the you tube half-links for the three songs in this chapter:

Step by Step

watch?v=E284QNyoJug

Come and Go With Me

watch?v=Aoa1utrZnz0

God Only Knows

watch?v=Aoa1utrZnz0

Chapter VI

It was morning the evening. Double D was starching and pressing his clothes for later for his date. He was also quite nervous about the house, even though it was spotless.

"Messy, messy, messy!" He exclaimed as he tired to wipe away an invisible spot out of the family room carpet.

He went back up to his room, and again, started leafing through the plastic bin with the records in it. He started to pull out a dusty 45 single with the cover on it. It was _Step by Step _by the Crests. Double D always thought that old songs could sweet talk better than he could.

"This song perfectly explains how our budding relationship came to be."

"Perfect, now I just have to find a few more."

He also pulled out _Come and Go With Me _by the Dell-Saints. He also pulled out a classic that was sure to be a heart melter, it was _God Only Knows _by the Beach Boys.

"Double D, you are one romantic gesture." he told himself.

At Eddy's house, Eddy had just gotten up from his nap, with his usual hairnet on. He turned around and sat up on the edged of the bed. He looked up still sleepy, and saw Nazz staring at him.

"Hey dude, you have a nice nap?" She asked.

"Man, am I in Heaven or what, cause I'm lookin' at an angel!" Eddy replied.

"Oh, Eddy!" Nazz said as she grabbed Eddy and they started kissing in a very suggestive way. They just sat there, kissing, as two lovers should.

It was now 4 o'clock, and at the Kanker trailer, Lee, Marie, and May were washing clothes outside.

"So Marie," said Lee, "you excited about goin' over to Double D's place tonight?"

"Well," Marie stated, "I have broke in over there plenty of times before, so it's not like I'm scared or anything."

"Well, I overheard some of ya date last night, and boy, is Double D a gentleman or what!" Lee said.

"Back off lee," said Marie, in a protective voice, "he's mine, so don't even think about it!"

"Zesh, okay, God, I never wanted to steal him from you! I've got my own stumpy Eddy to worry about." Lee whipped back.

"Double D told me that Eddy is dating that blonde haired skank from the cul-de-sac." Marie replied.

"That's alright, he'll come back around once he realizes what he's missin'."

The three laughed at Lee's statement, and they continued with the laundry.

Double D was now walking toward Ed's house. Ed had gone on one of his hunger-induced sleep walks again and got his head trapped in a pickle jar and called Double D to come help him.

As Double D was walking, Rolf stopped him to talk to him.

"Sockheaded Ed boy, Rolf has heard that you have begun the mating ritual, yes?"

"Well Rolf," Double D stated, "I am in a relationship with Marie Kanker."

"Ah, Rolf thinks this sounds like Nana's and Bestafar's mating ritual after the Great Was of 1945, yes."

"Very analogous, Rolf, but I have to go now."

"Good bye, brainy Ed boy, yes. Rolf wishes you the best yams on the ritual, yes." Rolf said.

Double D went through Ed's entrance window to find his head in the jar.

"Oh Double D, you have to come to set me free from the evil clutches of the jar!" Ed yelled.

"Hold still Ed, this will only take a moment." Double D said, as he had Ed lay down on his bed. Double D then took out a tiny hammer and thumb tack he had brought for the occasion.

"Hold on Ed." he said again.

Double D took and placed the thumb tack on top of the jar and made a very slight tap on it with the hammer.

Ed laid there for a few seconds, then, the jar split in half, freeing Ed.

"Thank you Double D!" Ed said as he hugged Double D in a tight squeeze.

"You are quite welcome Ed." he replied as Ed let him go and ran over to his chair, and started watching his monster movie once more.

"Well, good bye Ed." Double D replied.

Ed said nothing, never taking his eyes away from the TV.

It was now 7:00 that night, and Double D was ready for his date. He dressed a little more casual tonight: he had on a white dress shirt, black trousers, and his dress shoes. He had dimmed down the lights in the family room. He had his turntable and 3 records on the coffee table in front of the couch. A few candles were lit and the atmosphere was perfect. He also had the water and soda glasses on the coffee table.

After a few moments of checking over everything again, he heard the doorbell ring. He ran to the door with a smile on his face.

"Hello Marie." he said as he opened the door.

"Hello Double D." she replied.

Marie was also dressed more casually. She had on a light blue blouse and a navy skirt, with normal blue shoes.

"Would you like to come in the family room Marie?" Double D asked, "everything is ready."

"Sure thing Oven Mitt." she said.

The two went into the family room and sat down on the couch. Marie picked up her soda and took a sip, then spoke up.

"So, since you had a question for me yesterday, I have a question for you."

"Ask away darling." He said with a smile.

"So, why do you wear that hat all the time?" She asked.

"Well," Double D started, "it may sound a little silly, but it all happened in 4th grade. See, we were in gym class one day, and we were playing dodge ball, and as you know, I am not very athletically inclined. Anyway, one of the balls went up and hit the basketball goal above my head, causing it to fall and hit me on the head. It caused a huge gash on my head. To make a long story short, I went to the emergency room and they had to put staples in."

Double D now took off his hat. He had black, thin hair, and a scar on the right side of head.

"If I comb my hair correctly, you can't even see it, but I wear the hat instead."

He pointed to a family photo on the wall above the couch, which showed Double D and his parents, His hair was combed like Rolf's, parted to the side, however it was much neater than Rolf's.

"That is what my hair looks like when I comb it correctly. See, you can't see the scar."

"I think you are just as handsome with or without the scar." Marie said.

"Oh, Marie." he said.

"So, what are these things?" Marie asked, pointing to the records on the coffee table.

"Ah, those are records Marie. 45 single to be exact. They're a lot like CD's, except you put them on this thing called a turntable, and you put the needle on it, and the sound comes out." he said.

"Could you play them?" she asked.

"Certainly." Double D said, as he grabbed the one labeled _Step by Step_, placed it on the turntable, and placed the needle on it. The song started as Marie and Double D snuggled up together. Double E was no longer scared of intimacy.

The song started.

_Step by step_

_Step by step _

_Step by step_

_Step by step, I fell in love with you _

_And step by step, it wasn't hard to do_

_Kiss by kiss_

_And hand in hand_

_That's the way it all began_

_Soon we found the perfect plan_

_For love_

_Side by side_

_We took a lover's walk _

_And word by word_

_We had a lover's talk_

_One word led to another and then_

_In no time we're up to ten_

_My heart knew it was gonna end in love_

_(first step) sweet hello_

_(second step) my hearts a glow_

_(third step) we had a date_

_(fourth step) we stayed out late_

_(fifth step) I walked ya home_

_(sixth step) we're all alone _

_Seventh step we took a chance_

_One kiss and true romance_

_Step by step, we climbed to Heaven's door_

_And step by step, each thrill invited more_

_Then I promised faithfully_

_All your love belonged to me_

_Now I know we'll always be in love_

Now the song just repeated the seven steps and the last part.

"Oh Double D, it's almost just like the story of how we fell in love." Marie said.

"Precisely." Double D said.

Next he put on _Come and Go With Me_, which is also a good song. After that, he put on _God Only Knows, _and waited for the song to start and her heart to melt.

_I may not always love you_

_But long as there are stars above you_

_You never need to doubt it_

_I'll make you so sure about it_

_God only knows what I'd be without you_

_If you should ever leave me_

_Though life would still go on believe me_

_The world would show nothing to me _

_So what good would living do me_

_God only knows what I'd be without you_

As the instrumental part came on, Marie said,

"This is the most beautiful song I have ever heard."

Double D nodded in agreement.

_God only knows what I'd be without you_

_If you should ever leave me _

_Thought life would still go on believe me _

_The world would show nothing to me_

_So what good would living do me_

_God only knows what I'd be without you_

The song ended in a mesh of harmonies. Marie sat there, tearing up slightly.

"I love you Edward Moore." she said.

"I love you too, Marie Kanker." he said.

The two embraced and kissed, again an open mouth one. Marie got on top of Double D and started rubbing her pelvis against Double D's for about 15 minutes, until both of them ended by releasing tight moans.

"I think you really need a to wash your pants now, Double D." said Mari, giggling.

"I believe so." he replied. It was the first time they were able to physically express their love. And Double D had never felt this way before.

They sat there, holding each other's hands, looking into each other's eyes for about another 10 minutes before the big grandfather clock in the room struck 10.

"I'd love to stay, but I must be going." Marie said.

"Why don't I walk you home?" Double D asked.

"Sure." Marie said, dreamily.

The two lovers walked out the house and down the street, holding hands.

Once they reached the trailer, Marie spoke.

"Double D, this is the best night I have ever had."

"It was for me as well, because I had you to spend it with." he replied.

The couple kissed, and Marie went inside the trailer, and Double D went back home and to sleep, a much happier man.


	7. Chapter VII

Again, the reviews are great.

I use the music mostly for story vocation. I strongly believe George Lucas' theory of music being like a Greek Chorus, and that it helps narrate and explain the story where simple character dialogue cannot.

Here are the you tube half links for the songs in this chapter:

Poetry In Motion

watch?v=-xDwq8NM9G4

Book of Love

watch?v=-xDwq8NM9G4

Chapter VII

It was already afternoon in the next day. Double D was cataloguing his insects when he heard a ring at his doorbell.

He opened it to find a desperate Marie.

"Marie, what plagues you darling?" he asked.

"Double D, I need you to help me with something."

"What is it?"

"Well, can I come in first?"

"Certainly Marie." Double D said.

Marie stepped in and closed the door.

"Well Double D, my mom's birthday is tomorrow, and I know how good you are at cooking, so you think you could help me make a cake for her?"

"Certainly Marie, in fact, my family has a recipe for white birthday cake." he said.

"Oh Double D, you're the best!" Marie said as she hugged him.

"Well,, come into the kitchen." said Double D as they went into the kitchen.

Double D put on his apron and gave one to Marie.

"This is mother's, so be careful." he said.

Double D walked over to a picture of a priest hanging on the wall.

"That is my Uncle Giovanni, he is Mother's brother. He is a Jesuit priest in New York City." Double D said.

"So, your family is Catholic?" Marie asked.

"Yes," said Double D, "my great-grandparents came from Italy in the 1910's. Where are your ancestors from Marie?"

"Well, on my mother's side, from the Netherlands. We are Dutch. My mother and grandparents are strict Lutherans, but my mom stopped taking us to church after she had to start working so much. So now we just go on Christmas and Easter, and whenever else we can." Marie said.

"I fell similar. My parents and I go to Sunday Mass whenever they are here, which isn't very often. Most of the time I go with Eddy and his family, and sometimes with Ed and his." Double D said.

"Well anyway," Double D continued by pulling back the picture, revealing a safe.

"My family is very protective over our recipes."

"I can see." said Marie, giggling.

Double D put in the combination then heard the car alarm "click-up" sound. He and Marie both giggled.

"Very protective." Double D said again.

He pulled out a piece of paper that was written in Italian.

"But cutie, that's in another language, how will we know what it says?" asked a puzzled Marie.

"So Italiana." said Double D, which means "I know" in Italian.

"Oh, well, continue please." she said.

"Okay, it says we need 8 oz of butter. It is in the refrigerator next to the cheese." he said.

Marie got the butter and laid it on the counter.

"Okay, now we need…. Two eggs."

Marie got the eggs.

"Now I will get the cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and oil from the cabinet." he said.

Double D got the ingredients out of the aforementioned cabinet and laid them on the counter as well.

"Now we need to sift the flour, and baking powder and soda together with a little pinch of salt."

Double D retrieved his sifter and went to town on the dry good.

"Why do we do that?" asked Marie.

"So we can put air into the flour, making it lighter and therefore easier to add into the other ingredients.

Marie stood amazed at Double D's knowledge.

"Now," he said as he now grabbed his stand mixer, "we have to beat the butter and sugar together. Now, I will measure out 1 cup of sugar while you put 2 sticks of butter in the mixer bowl."

Marie put in the butter and Double D the sugar.

"Now, we have to beat these with the paddle for 5 minutes."

"Why do we do that?" Marie asked again.

"Well, we bring the butter and sugar into a cream, which will make the cake soft and fluffy"

After 5 minutes, Double D spoke to Marie.

"Go ahead and add the eggs one at a time while I put in the oil and vanilla."

They added the eggs and liquids.

"Now it was to integrate for 1 minute."

Double D took out two round cake pans and put two round disks in bottom of them.

"What are those for?" asked Marie.

"These are parchment paper rounds," said Double D, "they will keep the cake from sticking to the bottom of the pans."

"Now we add the flour mixture to the to the mix."

After the batter had come together, Double D and Marie poured the batter into the pans and into the oven.

"These have to bake for 35 minutes, so we have that much time to ourselves." said Double D as he set his oven timer.

"Why don't we listen to some more music?" Marie asked, "I really enjoyed it."

"Certainly, let us go up to my room." he said.

The two held hands as they went up the stairs into Double D's room.

"This time you can pick, but we only have time for two songs." Double D said.

Marie looked through the bin and pulled out _Poetry In Motion,_ by Johnny Tillison, and _Book of Love _by the Monotones.

"Are these okay?" she asked.

"If you think so, yes." he answered back.

Double D placed the first record on the turntable and _Poetry in Motion_ started.

_When I see my baby_

_What do I see_

_Poetry_

_Poetry in motion_

_Poetry in motion _

_Walkin' by my side_

_Her lovely locomotion _

_Keeps my eyes opened wide_

_Poetry in motion_

_See her gentle sway _

_A wave out on the ocean _

_Could never move that way_

_I love every movement_

_There's nothing I would change_

_She doesn't need improvement _

_She's much to nice to rearrange _

"Ah, Double D, is this how you think of me?" Marie asked.

"It most certainly is." he said.

The song finished by repeating the middle and last part. Double D and Marie sat there on the floor, with Double D's arm around Marie's shoulder.

Once the song was over, Double D put on the next one.

The song started.

_I wonder-wonder who_

_Bud da da who, who wrote the book of love_

_Oh tell me tell me tell me_

_Oh who wrote the book of love_

_I've got to know the answer _

_Was it someone from above_

_Oh I wonder-wonder who_

_Bud da da who_

_Who wrote the book of love_

_Chapter one says you love her_

_You love her with all ya heart _

_Chapter two you tell her _

_You're never ever ever ever gonna part_

_In Chapter Three remember _

_The meaning of romance_

_In Chapter Four you break up_

_But ya give it just one more chance _

_Oh I wonder-wonder who_

_Who wrote the book of love_

The song repeated itself over and ended. Double D and Marie were sitting there, holding hands and kissing.

"I love you so much Double D." Marie said, softly.

"I love you even more." Double D said.

Before they knew it, the oven timer had went off ant they hurried into the kitchen.

Double D pulled the cakes out of the oven and placed them on two cooling racks.

"Alright Marie," he said, "while these cool, we can make the frosting. Now, I'm going to need two more sticks of butter. I'll get the powdered sugar."

They made the butter cream frosting and frosted the cake. Double D got a little bit on his cheek.

"Here let me get that." Marie said as she liked it off.

He wrote "Happy Birthday Mom" on the top with writing chocolate.

"It's finished," Double D said, "I'll keep it in the refrigerator, and you can pick it up in the morning!"

"Thank you so much, cutie. In fact, would you like to come to see my mom tomorrow, she is dying to meet you!" said Marie.

"Y-y-y-y-you're mother?" Double D asked, nervous for the first time in a week.

"Don't worry Oven Mitt," Marie assured him, "she is one of the nicest people you could ever know."

"Well, okay, if she is okay with it.." he said.

"Now that's the spirit!" she said, "Well, goodbye cutie, I might stop by tonight if I have time."

"Okay, goodbye darling." he said as they kissed goodbye and Marie left.


	8. Chapter VIII

Chapter VIII

After Marie left, Double D started to wash the dishes from the cake making. Once he had finished, he went to tidy up his room.

Once he started putting his records away, he heard a car pull up outside.

Double D pulled his periscope out of the ceiling in his room so he could see the street in front of his house. He saw a yellow taxi cab drive away, with a man walking up to the front door.

Double D ran down the stairs and to the front door as the man walked through it.

"Hello father." Double D said in a respectful tone.

"Greetings Edward." his father said in a very stern tone as he saluted him.

His father was in a US Air Force dress uniform. He was a lieutenant colonel at a base 20 miles away from the cul-de-sac. He is commanding officer of intercontinental communications and satellite relay. He traveled all over the world repairing and teaching others how to repair satellite relays and signal comms.

He was a very thin man just as Double D. He looked just like Double D. He had short, jet black hair that was parted to the left. He also had black, horn-rimmed glasses that he was constantly pushing up his nose.

He walked in and sat his briefcase on the shelf labeled "briefcase shelf" and put his officer's cap on the hat rack.

"Father, if you don't mind me asking, what brings you here this afternoon?" Double D asked, as both men were walking to the family room. Double D's father sat down in his chair.

"Well Edward," he said, "I just got back from England, and I just got to the base an hour ago, and they're giving me 4 hours to spend at home till they send me to Germany on a teaching mission for RADAR operators going into Afghanistan, and since your mother is out of town, I decided to come spend it with you. Are Mr. and Mrs. McGee still checking up on you with groceries and everything?"

"Yes father, I have been doing quite well." Double D said.

"It looks like you have been keeping the house in order. Have you been going to Mass with the McGees and the Laughornes and saying your prayers?" Col. Moore asked.

"Every week and every day father." Double D said with a smile.

"Well," Col. Moore said, "Anything else you would like to inform me of?"

"Well father,: Double D said, trying to muster up the courage, "I am currently occupying my time with a female of my own age group." he said feeling as if a thousand pound had been lifted off of him.

"Oh," said his father, "you have a girlfriend. What's her name?"

"Marie Kanker." he said.

"Oh, is she pretty?"

"She is very beautiful father."

"Wonderful son, I am very happy for you. You know, me and your mother started dating when we were 14."

"Really?" asked Double D, surprised.

"Correct." Col. Moore said. "We grew up in New York City, and my family, the Moranos, that was my grandparent's name before they arrived in America and Americanized it, and your mother's family, the Mastrangelos, lived right next door in out apartments."

"In fact," Double D said, "Marie is supposed to be coming over tonight."

"Interesting," said Col Moore, in a way Double D would say it, "I would love to meet her."

In a speak-of-the-devil-and-he-shall-appear manner, the doorbell rang.

"That must be her." Double D said, getting up from the couch and walking into the hallway and to the door.

He opened it and saw Marie. She was wearing a white blouse with a periwinkle skirt and shoes.

"Hello Marie, come in please." he said.

"Hey, Oven Mitt." she said.

"Marie, there is some one in the family room I would like you to meet."

"Okay." she said as she grabbed his hand and they walked to the family room.

Col. Moore stood up as they entered the room.

"Marie, this is my father, Lt. Col. Edward Moore I." Double D said, "Father, this is my girlfriend Marie."

"Pleasure to meet you aquantince, Marie." Col. Moore said.

"And it is nice to meet you, Lt. Col. Moore, sir." Marie said nervously as she shook his hand.

"Please, call me Mr. Moore," he said in a friendly tone, alien to Double D, who had always heard his stern voice.

"Okay, Mr. Moore." Marie retorted.

"Well Edward, I will go to my office now so you and Marie can get more comfortable. I'll stop in and say bye before I leave."

"Salutations father, I will see you again shortly."

Col. Moore disappeared up the stairs and into his office to allow his son some privacy, as he watched television.

Marie turned to Double D

"So, you're dad's in the Army?" she asked.

"Air Force actually, and from my observations, he has taken a liking to you." Double D said.

"Why do you say that?" she asked.

"Well, he spoke with a very friendly voice that I have never heard him use, even to my mother. Also, he asked you to call him "Mr. Moore" instead of "Colonel Moore. Everybody, even his best friends Mr. McGee and Mr. Laughorne, Eddy and Eds' fathers, call him colonel."

"Does that mean he approves of me?" she asked.

"It probably means he is trying to ease your nervousness around him by making the situation more casual." Double D said.

"So, how many years has he been in the military?" Marie asked.

"19 years," Double D said, "he has been in there ever since he turned 18."

"So, how was the rest of your afternoon?" asked Marie.

"It was fairly decent." he replied. "And you?"

"Well, Lee was hoggin' the TV and Doritos, so I had to deal with that. But other than that, It was okay."

The two talked for another hour or so about their day when Col Moore reappeared in the room with his cap on and briefcase in hand.

"I'm leaving son." he said.

Double D and Marie stood up and walked over to him.

"Farewell father." Double D said, saluting him.

"It was nice to finally meet you, Mr. Moore." Said Marie.

"Farewell son," he said saluting his son back, " and farewell to you Marie. You are a nice lady and I am proud that you date my son. Just treat him with respect and you will have room in this family."

"Edward, I am dropping off a new thing of sticky notes at the McGee's house, so be sure to obey them and keep the house clean. "

"Of course father." Double D said.

"All in the best. Arrivederci."

He walked out the door and went to Eddy's house. He rang the bell and Mr. McGee came to the door. He was also a somewhat short man. He was clean shaven and had black, slicked back parted hair. He looked very similar to Eddy.

"Oh, hey colonel, nice to see ya!" Mr. McGee said as he opened the door.

"Hello Tom, here are the next load of sticky notes for Edward until his mother come's back next month. Now I must go before my cab leaves."

"See ya colonel, hope to see ya soon. We'll handle ole Double D for ya."

Col. Moore closed the door and got in his cab and drove off just as the sun was going down.


	9. Chapter IX

Just to quell any curiosity, I am indeed a sir. And I know nothing about romance. How ironic.

Here are the you tube half links to the songs in this chapter:

First one:

watch?v=HdjD_eJJe-U

Second one:

watch?v=v4b3TaV9PI4

Chapter IX

"So," Marie said in a soft voice, "can we go up to your room now, now that the coast is clear?"

"Absolutely darling, I have been waiting for you to ask me that all night." Double D replied.

It was just getting dark outside and the street lamps let in a soft illuminating glow in the window.

Once they got into his room, Double D cut on one of his lamps as the two sat down on the bed.

"So Double D," said Marie, "I was talking to my grandpa on the phone yesterday, and I told him about your neat old record collection. And he told me to ask you if you had _I Love How You Love Me _by The Paris Sisters. He said that was the song him and my grandma danced to on one of their first dates." Marie said.

"_I Love How You Love Me," _said Double D, "I am fairly certain that it is in my collection."

He started to fumble around through the plastic bin. He looked for about 5 minutes before he exclaimed "Eureka!"

"What is it?" Marie asked.

"I found it!" he said.

Double D sat the record on his turntable and placed the needle on it.

Marie spoke in a very clear and sensitive voice.

"Double D, do you wanna dance?" she asked as he slipped away from the record player as the song was about to start.

"I would like nothing more, Marie." he said in an equally sensitive voice.

Just as the song started, the two locked hands and started slow dancing around the room.

_I love how your eyes close_

_Whenever you kiss me_

_And when I'm away from you _

_I love how you miss me_

_I love the way you always treat me tenderly_

_But darling most of all _

_I love how you love me_

"Oh Double D, you're pretty good at this." Marie said.

"You are as well." Double D replied.

_I love the way your heart beats _

_Whenever I hold you_

_I love how you think of me _

_Without being told to_

_I love the way your touch is always heavenly _

_But darling most of all_

_I love how you love me_

Marie now laid her head on Double D's chest as they held each other in each other's arms.

_(spoken) I love how your eyes close_

_Whenever you kiss me_

_And whenever I'm away from you _

_I love the way you miss me_

_(Sung) I love the way your touch is always heavenly _

_But darling most of all_

_I love how you love me_

_I love how you hug me _

_I love how you squeeze me, tease me, please me, love_

_How you love me _

_I love how you love me_

_I love how you love me _

As the song finished, Double D and Marie just stood there, still in each others' arms, kissing in the moonlight of the window. They continued kissing for about a minute or so. When they sat down on the bed, with Marie cradled on top of Double D, and continuing to make out. Double D's heart raced as his hand started to slip off Marie's blouse, exposing her white bra. She stopped kissing and looked at him.

"I am very sorry Marie, I don't know what came over me." Double D pleaded.

"No silly, it's my turn." She said as she pulled off his shirt. The two found themselves in the same position as the other night, and both were enjoying it heavily. Soon Double D slipped off his trousers leaving him in his boxer-briefs, and Marie slipped off her skirt, leaving her in her bra and panties. They continued to make love for another 20 minutes until they both ended in ecstasy.

"I don't want to this to ever end." said Marie, "But I have to go home now and go to sleep. And that is the only time I can't see you."

After hearing that, a light bulb went off in Double D's head.

"Hold on one second Marie, go ahead and go downstairs and get dressed, I'll meet you down there in a few moments." he said.

Marie put on here blouse and skirt and went down stairs. Double D stayed in his room for about another 5 minutes, then came back out dressed as well with a cardboard box in his hand with a letter attached on it.

"Now Marie, don't open this until you get home, okay?" he said as he handed her the box.

"Okay Oven Mitt, I'll see you in the morning."

They kissed and embraced as Marie took the box and letter back home.

When Marie got to the trailer, Lee and May were sitting on the couch watching some movie. As Marie came in, Lee perked up.

"Hey Marie, how'd it go tonight, you look pretty happy." Lee said.

"I'll tell ya all about it Lee, but first I wanna open this package and letter he have me." Marie said.

Marie ripped off the letter and read it. It was written by Double D in really professional cursive. It said:

"Dear Marie,

You said you wish you could be with me

At night, well, you can. You are with me

every night, as the song I enclosed describes

In the box is an old Turntable of mine and

A record. If you play the song, you will

Realize that you are always with me when

I go to sleep at night.

Signed,

Your Love, Double D.

Marie pushed the letter to her heart then gave it to Lee to read while she opened the box. It was indeed an old record player and a record that said WHEN I GO TO SLEEP AT NIGHT and THE TOKENS on it.

"So," Lee said, "he gave you a song that describes how he is with you in his sleep. Is this always how he does things?"

"Yes Marie," said Marie, "using these old songs is like our secret love code. He calls it 'words of love.'"

"Well, let's hear it!" Lee said.

Marie plugged the turntable in and placed the record on it as she had watched Double D do it.

The song started playing as May muted the TV and the three sisters gathered around.

_When, when I go to sleep at night_

_When, when I go to sleep at night _

_When I go to sleep at night_

_I say a prayer, I hope you care_

_When I go to sleep at night _

_I thank the Lord, you are there_

_I dream of you_

_The whole night through_

_When I go to sleep at night_

_You're the sweetest girl _

_I could ever know_

_I love ya so_

_When you're close to me _

_My heart is all aglow, don't you know_

_I love you so it's true_

_My dreams are all of you _

_When I go to sleep at night _

_Angels and stars that shine_

_Thanks for this love divine _

_My dreams have all come true_

_Thanks for this gift, you sent from up above _

_An angel till my life on earth is through _

_Now I go to sleep at night _

_I say a prayer, I know you care_

_When I go to sleep at night _

_I'm sure the angels heard my prayer _

_It's you that I adore _

_For now and every more _

_When I go to sleep at night. _

_(falsetto) when, when I go to sleep at night x3_

The three sisters sat there, speechless and tearing up, especially Marie.

"Double D sure has a way with emotions, doesn't he?" said Lee, sniffling.

"Yeah, but I know he is with me when I go to sleep at night now too." Said Marie.

And with that, the girls went to sleep.


	10. Chapter X

Chapter X

The next morning, Lee and May were in the kitchen fixing breakfast for their mother, who had taken a day off from work today. Marie had left to get Double D and the cake.

When she got there, Double D was already shaved, showered, and dressed. Marie rang the door bell and it was answered by Double D. However, she thought that she had arrived at the wrong house, for she could not recognize Double D at first.

He had, for the first time, purposefully taken off his hat and combed his hair in the part that was in the family picture that was on the wall. It was true, you couldn't see the scar through his short black hair.

"Double D, is that you?" Marie asked, as she really liked Double D with his parted hair.

"Every molecule of me Marie." he said.

"You don't have your hat on, and your hair is combed, you look so handsome."

"Well, thank you Marie, won't you please step in." he said.

They went into the family room and sat down.

"So, that is what your hair looks like?" Marie asked.

"Indeed, Marie. I wanted to look the best for your mother today." he said.

"Okay cutie," said Marie, giggling, "so, what did you do with your hat?"

"I locked it in my closet." he said, smiling, "I am who I am, you made me realize that Marie, and I don't need a ridiculous hat to hid that. Regardless, you can't even see the scar from the way I combed it." he said.

"Well, I think that part makes you look old-fashioned and professional, and I find that oh-so sexy!" Marie said in a seductive tone and started kissing Double D.

"Well, we had best be going." said Double D as he got up and headed toward the kitchen, Marie following close behind.

Double D pulled the cake out of the refrigerator.

"Let's go love." Double D said as he and Marie headed out the door.

Double D and Marie walked through the cul-de-sac, though the construction zone, and to the trailer.

As Double D walked through the front door, Lee and May's jaws dropped as soon as they saw him.

"Double D, is that you?" Lee asked, very shocked.

"Yes Lee, it is I." he replied.

"Double D, you have hair!" shrieked May in her usual voice.

"Captain Obvious just got a promotion." Marie said, replying to May's statement.

"Here Lee," Marie said, handing the cake to Lee, "put this on the table."

"Come on Double D!" Marie then said, dragging Double D up the stairs and into the hall that joined the stairs at the top.

"Okay," she said, "just act natural, she can sense it right away if you act fake. Just stay cool, and she will be very nice. Like I said before, she has been dying to meet you. She never thought one of her girls would bring home a serious boyfriend, so just act as you always do."

Double D took in a deep breath as he and Marie walked though the door way.

Double D caught his first glimpse of Ms. Kanker. She was a middle aged woman with short brown/blonde hair that was similar in length to Marie's. She was curvy, but by no means fat, or skinny. She wore a flowered shirt with blue jeans and no shoes. She wore a struggled face, like a woman who had seen a lot and had a lot of stress over the years. She was sitting in her chair, watching soap operas she hadn't seen in years on television, and the window unit air conditioner was blaring in the background. The room was fairly tidy. There was a bed, chest-of-drawers, vanity mirror with desk, and of course the TV and chair.

She looked at Double D with approving eyes and made a face at Marie as if to say "Well done."

"Mom, this is my boyfriend, Edward Moore, but everyone calls him Double D; Double D, this is Barbara Kanker, our mother." Marie said, introducing the two.

"Hello Double D," said Ms. Kanker. Her voice was somewhere in-between Marie's and Sarah, Ed sister's. "My daughter hasn't stopped talking about you for the past week. So I see you like old doo-wop from that turntable and record you gave Marie. She hasn't stopped playing it since she got it last night. I think if I haven't memorized every note of it so far, something is wrong with me. Quite romantic, and you look the part as well, with the parted hair and clothes, you look like my father from when he was a teenager in the 50's. I always knew Marie would pick the best one to bring home." she said with a smile.

"Hello Ms. Kanker, and it is of magnificent honor that I am able to finally meet the matriarch of the Kanker household." he said with an enthusiasm.

Ms. Kanker looked at him for a minute, then leaned into Marie's ear and whispered,

"What did he say?"

"He said that he is happy to meet you." Marie whispered back.

"Well Double D, it seems your reputations as a gentleman preceed you. You are a very fine young man." She said as she grabbed him and gave him a giant bear hug he was used to from Ed.

Double D couldn't think of much to say, so he just said something.

"Grazzi, e tu sei una donna molto bella." Double D said in Itlalian. "That means, 'thank you, and you are a very nice woman' in Italian." he said.

"Mom, Double D is from an Italian family." Marie stepped in and said.

"Oh," she said, "how far back?"

"Three generations. My great-grandparents came over from Italy. My father's grandparent's name was Morano, and my mother's maiden name is Mastrangelo." Double D said.

"Well, what are we waiting for, let's get down there and eat some cake!" Ms. Kanker said.

They went down and got cake, as did Lee and May. They all took seats around the living room, Ms. Kanker getting her own chair.

"So Double D, how'd you get that nickname, 'Double D?'" Ms. Kanker asked.

"Well," said Double D, "my name in Italian is 'Edduardo', so my family started calling me 'Edd' with two Ds, because my Italian name is spelled with two Ds. And that's where it all started." he said.

The family and Double D sat for hours talking about many things, mainly Double D's and Marie's relationship. After about two hours, all the cake was gone and the house was clean.

"Well, it has been a pleasure, but I must be going home." Double D said.

"Double D, you are the finest young man I have ever seen, and I am very happy to have you dating my daughter. I hope to see you again soon." Ms. Kanker said as she hugged him.

"See ya Double D." Said Lee.

"Yeah, see ya Double D." said May.

"Mom, can I go spend the rest of the day with Double D?" Marie asked her mother.

"Sure thing Marie. Just don't stay out too late."

"Thanks mom." she said hugging her.

"Arriverderci, ci vediano presto. "Double D said, as he and Marie left.


	11. Chapter XI

Just as a note, I am being hard pressed to remember my Roman Numerals.

Chapter XI

After Marie and Double D left, Ms. Kanker turned to Lee.

"Why were you two shocked to see him, haven't you known him for two years.?"

"Yeah mom," Lee replied, "but Double D has always worn a ski hat everywhere." she put emphasis on the _always, _"We've never seen him without it on."

"Well, he seems like a very nice boy, he's a little on the nerdy side, but as long as he makes Marie happy, that's all I care." she said.

As Marie and Double D walked down the cul-de-sac holding hands, Johnny was off to the side playing with Plank and exchanging jokes when he saw Double D and Marie walk by, holding hands.

"Did you see that Plank? Double D's got himself a girlfriend. What's that buddy? It's Marie Kanker? Oh boy, we better go check this out."

Johnny ran up to Double D and started poking him on the shoulder. He kept saying "Hey Double D." over and over again as he poked before Double D finally turned around and acknowledged him.

"Oh, greetings Johnny and Plank." he said.

"Hey, it's that creepy bald kid!" Marie shrieked as she grabbed Johnny and flipped him over onto the ground.

"Marie, it's okay!" Double D pleaded, "that is just Johnny, he is always curious and often does these things due to his curious nature."

"Sorry Double D, but it was a little weird for him to be following us like that. Sorry baldy." she said.

Johnny was just laying with Plank in his hand, seeing stars.

The two walked on as Rolf spotted them from his garden.

"Ah, brainy Ed boy and female companion, lend Rolf your ears, yes." he said.

Double D and Marie went up to Rolf and listened.

"Double D Ed boy, you have given up the cap of security and allowed the egg head to be exposed. Rolf is pleased, now good day to you Ed boy and female friend, yes. Nana, Bestafar, Rolf has seen the hair of the egg head, good luck is to come upon Rolf and his yams today." Rolf shouted to his apparent Nana and grandfather in the house.

Is he okay?" Marie asked.

"Rolf is a good person, but he has, shall we say, strange customs from his home country of Norway, that well, alienate him from the rest of us. And also, he has been working in the garden all day, and this heat may be getting to his better nature." Double D said.

"I know Rolf from church, he goes to the same Lutheran church as us, except his family goes to the Scandinavian and Northern European service that occurs right after the English service." Marie said.

By this time, Eddy and Nazz, as well as Ed had come outside.

"Pigs must be flyin' and hell must be freezin', cause Sockhead has lost the sock!" Eddy exclaimed.

"Yeah Double D, you look really nice walking around with your hair out and combed, and a nice girlfriend by your side. You must feel like one cool dude, dude." Nazz said.

"Yeah Double D, you look cool, like that time you and Eddy dressed me up!" Ed said in his goofy voice.

The group stood there and talked a little more before everybody said goodbye and went inside due to the scorching heat outside. It had topped 98°F that day, and had gotten up to 100°F yesterday, keeping everybody but Rolf inside.

Marie and Double D went into the house and sat down on the couch in the family room.

"Well, your mother seemed to like me." Double D said, having turned on the central air via a keypad on the family room wall, and they both heard the "whoosh" sound coming out of the vent on the ceiling of the room. Double D sat down next to Marie.

"Told you she was nice." Marie said. "See, nothin' to worry about."

"I was a lot less worried then you were about Father." Double D said.

"Yeah, he made me very nervous, I guess it was because he was so serious, and had that stern voice." Marie said.

"He has always been that way, always."

Marie leaned in to listen as Double D was going to tell the story of his father and his family.

"See, he grew up in New York City. His grandparents had come over from Rome, Italy in 1945, after World War II was over, since the turmoil left by Mussolini, the dictator of Italy at the time, had destroyed the county. They sought out America as a land where, after the war, was full of pride and opportunity as industry kicked off is post-war America. When they got here, the Americanized their name, as many Italian immigrants did, from Morano to Moore. Anyway, my father grew up in an apartment on Belmont Street in the Bronx, that is where many famous doo-wop groups like Dion and the Belmonts grew up as well. His family didn't make much money. His father was a butcher in the local meat market, and worked at a deli at night, and his mother was a nurse at the local Italian clinic on the street. It was catered to the Italian immigrants who couldn't speak English. He was born when my grandfather was 17 and my grandmother was 15 in 1964, and they had to struggle to raise two kids, for my aunt Lucia was born 2 years later in 1966.

"In 1967." he continued, "the Vietnam War was escalating fast. Thousands of people were dying every month and hundreds of thousands more replaced them. My grandfather was drafted into the Army in the spring of 1967. His plan was that, since he thought the war was going to end in a couple years, that after the war, he would become an officer in the Army so he could provide for his family and they could live together happily. Well, he got to Vietnam in December of 1967. He wrote letters to my grandmother almost everyday and he even used all his monthly pay to ship my father's and aunt's Christmas presents half way around the world to New York in time for Christmas. Of course he was in a few battles, but he survived them. He mostly fought the North Vietnamese Army in the mountains of North Korea. Later that month, we was assigned to De Nang Army base. In January 1968, the Tet Offensive, that is, a major invasion of the North Vietnamese into the south on the Tet holiday on which there had been a cease-fire, and his base suffered major damage. In fact, his barracks were blown into pieces by mortar shells and rocket. He was officially declared Missing In Action, M.I.A."

"Did they find him?" Marie asked.

They contacted my grandmother with a telegram, but she still had hope that he was alive. Since the invasion was such a surprise, it took the military a while to rebound and started cleaning up the mess. A few weeks after, they started digging through the rubble, and they found his body under what was a concrete slab. They found something in his hands. In one hand, he had a rosary with crucifix, and in the other a picture of my grandmother. Even in the middle of the night, in the heat of battle, he was praying and thinking of his wife and kids. Anyway, they had the Catholic field Chaplin officer give him the Final Rights. They sent his body back to the states and he was given a funeral Mass and full military honors in New York, and is buried in the Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish cemetery in the Bronx, the parish he grew up in."

"So," Marie asked, :how did your grandma make it by as a widow with three kids?"

"Well, the Army helped her out a little at first, but eventually she had to move back in with my grandfather's parents, the Moranos' apartment in Manhattan, which was right across from my mother's family's apartment.

"Once my father was about 7 or 8," Double D continued, "he had to start picking up small jobs to help with the bills. Mostly delivering newspapers and milk. They didn't have a prosperous life, but they got by with what they had."

Marie felt a slight feeling in her heart, for she could resonate with that monetary state of poverty.

"Once they became teenagers, he and mother started dating. Nonnino Mastrangelo, my mother's father, became like a second father to him, and took care of him when he needed it."

"Once he turned 18 and graduated high school valedictorian of his class, he enlisted in the Air Force, and vowed to live out the military career that his own father couldn't live on to achieve. He started out as a radio operator and RADAR official, and proved to be even better at it than his commanding officers."

"In 1984," he continued, "he took some leave time to come back to New York from Colorado and married my mother. She went with him this time when he went back to Colorado, and lived in an apartment off base with him. Soon after, he was recommended unanimously to go to Officer's Candidate School, and went back to Texas for the training. He has been a communications and relay officer ever since, and is one of the best in his field. He has even worked on satellites at the White House. However, there is something that happened in 1989 that I don't know if I can talk about." Double D said with saddening eyes, in a melancholy voice.

"Why can't you tell me Double D, I thought we could share anything?" Marie asked with puppy dog eyes.

"Very well Marie, but you have to promise that this stays between you and me, and you can tell no one about it, not Lee, not May, not your mom, not to even mention it around my mother and father." he said in a serious tone like that of his father that Marie had never heard.

"I promise Double D, you can put your trust in me." she said.

"Well, Mother and Father always wanted a child as soon as they got married. They tried all the time. Well, they spent years trying after their marriage, and even the doctors said it was practically impossible for Mother to get pregnant. Still, her and father wouldn't give up. They kept trying and trying. Well, in 1989, she did get pregnant. She was ecstatic, and her and my father couldn't have been happier. However, after a few months, and she went for her usual exam at her gynecologist, the doctor told her he thought she had miscarried. She was broken hearted, even though the doctor admitted there was a mess up on the exam and he would do it over again. He went back and did it over and found the baby was still alive, but had a heart murmur, that should heal over time. My father, as soon as he heard the news, went out and bought a crib, high chair, stroller, and all kind of other baby stuff. They were very relieved. Two weeks before she was due, my mother had a big baby shower with all her friends and got about a room full of clothes, bottles, cloth diapers, and bibs. Then, when my mother went into labor, my father had to get permission from the general to take her to the hospital. Of course he did get permission. Anyway, they brought the camera and everything, because they wanted all these memories on film." Double D started tear up, " and,…after he came out,…he was,…..a stillborn." Double D started sobbing badly. "My mother begged them to try to do something, but the doctor said there was nothing he could do!" he continued sobbing.

Marie grabbed his head and started stroking his hair trying to consol his sorrow.

"I am so sorry Double D, I wish there was something I could do." she said, feeling heart struck herself by Double D's strong and sudden emotions, she had never seen from him.

"They took him to New York for a funeral Mass and buried him next to my grandfather." Double D said through sobs.

Double D continued to sob for about another 5 minutes, in Marie's arms. She grabbed a box of Kleenexes as he blew his nose and wiped his eyes.

"So," Marie said, obviously trying to change the subject after that, "what happened after that? "

"Well," said Double D, still sniffling, "my father and mother waited a while before they tried again, obviously, and in 1997, got pregnant with me. When I was born, my parents were ecstatic over it. When I was two years old, my father was reassigned to the Air Force base 20 miles from here, and it was when I moved here. And I have been here ever since. Even though my father is stationed here, he goes all over the world working with satellite relays and signals. He has even been to Iraq and Afghanistan, though not in battle. He is always working, and on and after 9/11, he worked for 42 hours straight that day and the days after working in New York with the communications from the planes. He even went to the White House to show how the signals were broadcast and lost to President Bush. He is a very respected man in the Air Force and is set to be promoted to full colonel by the end of this year." he finished, with a smile.

"What about your mother?" Marie asked.

"Well," Double D said, "her story is pretty similar. She went to college at Georgetown University and got a degree in law science and method and travels all over examining court cases and mistrials all over the country and even into Europe. She has a Ph D in it."

Okay cutie, now it's my turn." Marie said, happy that Double D had cheered up a little.


	12. Chapter XII

Chapter XII

Well," she said, "My mom has a very interesting story and family history." Maire said.

"Go ahead and tell." Double D said.

"Okay," Marie said. "Well, to start off everything, my family is orginally from the Netherlands. Like your family, mine too was affected by World War II. When the Nazis invaded Holland in the late 1930's, my grandfather's parents sent him here as a small child so he wouldn't be captured or killed by the Nazis. They sent him to America by smuggling him an a boat going to England and then went to Pennsylvania. About a week after, the Nazis invaded their village in Holland. They raped then shot and killed my great-grandmother and forced my great-grandfather into the Nazi Army, I believe it is called the 'hair', wasn't it?" she asked Double D, thinking he would know more about Nazi history than she would.

"It was called the 'Heer', actually." Double D replied.

"Right, anyway," she continued, "obviously he didn't want to be in there, so he rebelled it whenever he could. He even tried desertion several times."

"Ah, AWOL, a very tricky thing to pull off." Double D said.

"Right, well, he tried it one too many times, and his officers got sick of it. They had to come up with a plan. they figured that prison was too weak, and death was too easy. So they decided to punish him by sending him to a concetration camp to work as a guard. They figured that having to see all that would punish him enough."

"So, he wasn't put in a concentration camp, but was stationed at one as a guard?" Double D asked.

"Right. His officers stationed him at the Dachau camp in Germany. He was assigned to be a guard at the work area where the Jewish people dug in the dirt with their shovels. He was told by his officers that they were digging to lay down the foundation for a new clothing factory.

He was very different from the rest of the Nazi soldiers there. He often snuck food from the Mess hall when he ate lunch and gave them the food. He would often give the kids candies and toys when the officers weren't watching. He felt sorry for them, and since he was forced into service, he didn't find motive to hurt them. Anyway, once they had finished digging the hole, he had to report it to his officers. They told him to have the 50 workers, most of them women and children, to line up infront of the hole for a 'group picture' for their accomplishment. He did as he was ordered, and when the officers came out, they had a cloaked item infront of them. my great-grandfather assumed it was a camera. When they pulled off the cloak, it was a machine gun. they all started laughing, as one of the officers mounted the machine gun. My great-grandfather looked on with surprise, and started to run up and try to stop them. They told him to stand down, and keep watch. He was shocked at the prisoners, who just stood there, almost expecting it. The officers started laughing, as the machine gun fired and shot all the Jews, women, men, and children, as they fell into the hole. They had made them dig their own grave. 'Good show' one of them said as all the officers walked off, laughing. My great-grandfather fell to his knees, and started to cry, having seen such horrible things. Then he noticed a man sitting on the ground next to the hole. Somehow, the gunfire had missed him. My great grandfather walked up to him and strated to talk to him, and told him 'you are safe now'. However, the man could only speak Russian, so he didn't know Dutch or German. Then, the Catholic Chaplin of the camp walked up to the site. 'Father, Father, help, thank God above that you are here!' my great-grandfather told him. The priest told the prisoner to stand up. He then turned to my great-grandfather and said, 'I know Klaus, you missed one.' as he pulled out his pistol and shot the prisoner in the head and pushed him into the hole. He started laughing and walked away. My great-grandfater took off his helmet and started crying. However, he would soon get used to it. Like, the next week, a new group of Jews came and shoveled dirt over the others, and they stood infront and recieved the same fate. Before long there were several layers of dead bodies, for they did it every week.

The officers also took advantage of his friendly relationship with the prisoners by making him lure them into the showers to be gased. He said he also never used the oven to cook foor after that, and I think you know why." Marie told Double D.

"Yes, because of the cremetories." replied Double D.

"Right," Marie continued, "Anyway, he prayed everyday that the Americans or British would invade the camp so he could be free. Well, in April of 1945, after 6 years of guarding there, he would get his wish. Hitler shot himself and the Allies invaded Berlin. the Americans finally came and liberated the camp. When they came to him, they just figured him for any other Nazi and tried to shoot him. He wrote a note in his best English telling them that he was Dutch and was forced into Nazi military service. They decided to take him as prisoner. When they took him back to the American base, the officers decided to set him free to America after he told them about his small child was there. He threw away his Nazi uniform and took the first boat to America."

"How did he find your grandfater?" Double D asked.

"Well, they did a search of the immigrant records in Philidelphia, and foud he was in an orphanage in a Dutch community outside the city. He went and got my grandfather, and then they moved to Detroit, Michigan so my great-grandfather could get a work visa at a motor company so he could stay to become a citizen. He did get citizenship and eventually remarried a nice woman in Detroit and had two more kids. He worked at the Ford factory for 50 years, and spent years trying to wipe away his Nazi past to make a better life for his family."

"Marie, I find it amazing that you are as knowledgeable and as interested in family history as I am." Double D exclaimed with a smile.

"Well, me and my grandpa have always been close, and he tells me about the stuff that happened back then all the time. My great grandfather himself told me a lot of the details about the camp. He says he never got past the things he saw in that camp."

"I would imagine so." Double D replied.

"Anyway, I know that was a little long-winded, but anyway, my grandfather had a rather nice childhood in the 40s and a nice teenage life in the late 40s and early 50s. He was drafted at age 17 into the Army in during the Korean War in 1953. He fought a couple of battles, but the war ended soon after he got there. He helped clean up after the war had ended. He werved eight years, and the last four of those he was a drill sergeant at a training base in Georgia. After he got out of the military they sent him to college with the GI Bill and he got a degree in mechanial engineering. The Ford company hired him to help design new car models and machines to build them. In 1962, he married my grandmother, who ironically was Polish and her parents and been killed in a Nazi death camp. then in 1967 my mother was born. My grandfather told me that she was a completly different person growing up then she is now. In high school, she was a very popular girl. She was captain of the cheerleaders and had lots of friends. My grandpa said they lived in a beautiful house. Then, in the early 80s, the Ford company laid him off temporarily. They had to move to an apartment in the inner city."

"That is when she met Butch."

"That is Lee's father, correct?" Double D asked.

"Right. Butch was a good guy. He made good grades in school and had a job pumping gas at the service station on the block. Of course, his family and also fallen on hard times and also had to move into the inner city. After high school, Butch really wanted to go to college, but he didn't have the money. So he went into the Navy to be able to get into college. He served for four years as a janitor on the ships he was on. After he was discharged honorably from the Navy in 89, he married my mom and he went to college at the University of Michigan. He got his degree in Law and went to the academy and became a police officer for the Detroit police department. Mom loved him very much.

They moved into a Detroit suburb and out of the city. Grandpa had by that time gotten his job back at Ford and he and my grandma moved into the house next to mom and Butch. Butch moved up in rand very fast and became second in command of the whole police department of Detroit. My mother found work as a seamstress at a local tailor shop. And then in 1995, Lee was born. They loved her very much, and they were a happy family."

"So, what happened to him?" asked Double D.

"Well, he was always having to deal with the bad gangs that were slowly taking over Detroit. One night when he was with a bunch of other policeman they went to raid one of the gang houses. A shootout started. His pistol malfunctioned and he was shot in the neck by one of the gang members. My mom was devastated as they declared him dead in hospital later that night." Marie's eyes now turned slighly meloncholy.

"Then a few months later, when she was getting her car fixed, she met my father, Bubba. Benjamin was his real name. He was a nice guy, but feared commitment and had no plans of marriage. He dated mom on and off. And of course, they did more than talk, because she got pregnant with me. Fearing child support that he couldn't afford, Bubba ducked and ran off, and none of us has ever seen him since. All he left was his bathrob and a note on the table. Then after a couple months, she met Rod, who was a lot like Butch. Except he was a security guard at the local convience store mom shopped at a lot. She was out buying milk one day when he asked her why she had to walk to the store. She told him her situation and he felt so sorry for her that he agreed to help her out a little. Soon they started dating, then, four months later, got married and had May. Our life was better once again. They both had love for each other."

"So what was the event that ended that?" Double D asked.

"Well, mom was never the faithful one. She had gotten so used to the free life after Butch died that she couldn't give it up. She cheated on him several times. He eventually got tired of it and they at first just legally seperated. They tried that for awhile, then just eventually actually divorced. It was 4 years ago. My mom tried to make it by on her own for awhile, but to no avail. That is when she found this town, even though it is qutie far from Detroit and a little far from Michigan. She found this trailer park and a seamstress job in town. That is when we moved here, we found you Eds, and we found that you guys gave us hope at a time when we had none. And I think you know the rest."

"Does Rod ever come around anymore?" Double D asked.

"Oh yeah, he comes around a lot. I mean, he was our stepfather and May's real father for 8 years. May usually spends the weekends with him, and we spend time with him sometimes too."

"So, how did you find out about us Eds?" Double D asked.

"Well, we watched you from up here. Some days we would spend all day with binoculars, a bag of chips, and a cooler of soda watching you scams and play."

"Were your feelings genuine then as they are now?"

"Well, mine definently were, and May's were as well. I can't vouch for Lee, but I guess Eddy makes her feel funny too."

"You know Marie, a lot of people write you off as dumb and stupid, but having to got to know you, you are a very intelligent induvidual with a real heart and soul."

"Double D, you are the first person I love that has realized that." she said.


	13. Chapter XIII

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I live in Virginia, and the there was a major storm that came through that left me without power for days. In upper 90 degree weather I remind you. Anyway, here it is.

Songs referenced in here

watch?v=-mZLpDuuf40

watch?v=219AydgdgHM

Chapter XIII

"So, now after all that, what would you like to do?" Marie asked.

"Well, we can see what is on television." Double D replied.

"Okay." Marie said.

Double D picked up the remote and started flipping through the 9000 channels that the satellite picked up. He eventually found that _Back to the Future _was on one of the movie channels. Double D got up and walked to the kitchen and popped in a bag of popcorn in the microwave. He also grabbed two Dr. Peppers for he and Marie. Once the popcorn was done and let out the iconic repeating "beep" sound, Double D poured the popcorn into a bowl and returned to the family room and assumed his spot next to Marie.

"So, what's this movie about?" Marie asked as she grabbed a handful of popcorn.

"You've never seen _Back to the Future_?" Double D shrieked as he was very surprised at the heresy he had heard.

"No, should I have?" Marie asked.

"Well, it is about a teenager and his scientist fried that use a time machine made out of a car and go back in time to 1955, where the teenager meets his parents as teenagers. It is only one of the best movies ever made." Double D said.

The two sat and watched the movie. Double D of course, could practically quote every line from having watched it so much, and Marie enjoyed it for the first time. At the end of the movie, the bumper came on the bottom of the screen and said: _Up Next on HBO: American Graffiti, _

Double D would have liked to shoot through the roof with excitement. He started dancing around the room.

"Double D, are you okay?" Marie asked, in a concerned way.

"Marie, don't you realize what this means?" Double D shrieked.

"What?" she asked, playing along with him.

"This is American Graffiti, the greatest movie of all time!" Double D shrieked again.

"What is it about?" Marie asked

"Well Marie, it's about a group of teenagers in 1962 cruising around their city on the last night of summer in southern California." he said.

The two snuggled on the couch as the beginning scene started. It was the opening credits with the Mel's Drive-In in the background and Bill Haley and His Comets' _Rock Around the Clock _played. The two sat there and watched this movie as well. When the song _At The Hop _came on, Double D grabbed Marie off the sofa and the danced to the song, in in old 1950s way of dancing.

"Oh boy this is fun Double D." Marie said, giddy with laughter.

"Just wait." Double D said as he and Marie twirled around several times.

As soon as the song ended, he and Marie fell on the couch laughing.

Outside, the cul-de-sac was steadfastedly falling into darkness as the sun went down. Double D and Marie were still sitting on the couch, now as the movie was about to finish.

As the Movie ended, Marie stood up off the couch and stretched a little.

"Well cutie, I have to go, my mom told me not to stay out too late."

"I'll walk you home." Double D said.

Marie and Double D walked out the door and down the street.

"Since it's such a nice night out, why don't we take the long route?" Marie asked Double D.

"Fine by me." Double D said as he grabbed Marie's hand as they walked toward the junkyard as the stars just started to dot the sky. Just as the two entered, Double D noted the bus that he, Ed, and Eddy had used to tote the other kids around for 25 cents a ride, until it crashed going too fast down a hill. It had somehow been picked up by the trash truck and ended up in the junkyard.

"And that right there," Double D said, pointing at the bus, "is the bus that we used for one of Eddy's scams a couple of years ago. It had one of the nastiest crashes we ever seen around here." Double D was shamelessly sampling a scene out of _American Graffiti. _

"Needs a paint job, that's for sure." Marie said, playing along.

"But Ed had a brilliant idea see, he got his camera out of his drier, taped it, and sold the tapes to all the kids, and we made $5 out of it all." Double D said back, again going along with the scene.

They walked a little more before Marie spoke up.

"I like to come out here a lot to think about stuff ." she said.

"I mean, I am not a person with a stress free life. Between washing clothes or doing chores, I always have something getting on my nerves. Lee is just a do-nothing lazy sloth that just sits around, watches TV, and orders everybody around like she's some friggin' Queen or somethin'. Then you got May, and yeah, she's sweet most of the time, but she is so stupid. She is always doing dumb crap and getting herself into trouble. And all she ever does is complain. I just get headaches so much, but I can come out here, and everything is nice and quiet." Marie said.

"I come out here frequently as well. Eddy and Ed , well, they are fine gentlemen and all, but Eddy's greedy selfish ways and lack of rational discourse, and Ed's, well, blissful ignorance, can also be a handful sometimes." Double D replied.

The two then found an old blanket laying on the ground. They sat down on it and looked at each other for a moment. Then they started kissing in the moonlight. The song _There's a Moon Out Tonight _by the Capris came to Double D's mind as they continued to kiss for about a couple of minutes.

Marie stepped up with Double D.

"Well, we better be going." she said.

The two turned around and headed back through the construction site and then up to the trailer park and to Marie's trailer.

"Well, I had a boatload of fun tonight, but I won't see you again until Saturday." Marie said.

"Why?" Double D asked slightly surprised.

"Because Lee, May, me, and Mom are going up to Detroit to see my grandparents, and we won't be back until late Friday." she said.

"I will think of you everyday till then." Double D said, grabbing her hands into his.

"I will too." she said.

They kissed and Marie opened the door and went back into the house, as Double D returned home.

Marie left the next morning, all was quiet on the western front known as the cul-de-sac. In the deadness, Kevin stood in the window of his house, watching the street through the blinds. He stepped away and out the door. He walked around the yard for minute, the spotted Johnny and Plank sitting on the curb out of the corner of his eye.

"Yo baldy, get over here!" he yelled.

"Plank, we should amscray, I don't trust Kevin." Johnny whispered to Plank.

"What was that, Cue Ball?" Kevin demanded as he picked up Johnny by the collar and slammed him to the fence.

"Let us go!" Johnny screamed as he squirmed around with Plank is his hand.

"You listen up Baldy, and you listen good, I know you got connections with everybody around here, so tell me what Double Dork and Eddy are up too!" Kevin yelled.

"We don't have to tell you anything." Johnny replied.

"Well, if you don't wanna cough up what I wanna know, I'll just let a few people in on the stuff you don't want 'em to know." Kevin said with a convincing tone similar to a Mafia Don and a creepy smile.

"Like what?" Johnny asked in a slightly scared voice.

"Oh, lots of stuff, like maybe, that crush you have on Sarah." Kevin replied again with the Mafia tone.

"You wouldn't!" Johnny quivered, "And how'd you find that out?"

"Oh, I got connections, Cue Ball, and that's somethin' you don't need to worry about. All I gotta do is let it slip up. Oh, I'd bet ole Jimmy would get a kick outta that wouldn't he? You know how he can get psycho sometimes when people threaten his territory. We've all seen it happen."

"Alright, alright, I'll talk!" Johnny screamed.

"Now we're getting' somewhere." Kevin said, rubbing his hands together,

"Today I saw Double D and his girlfriend walking down the alley holding hands, okay." Johnny squealed.

"Who is she?" Kevin asked, almost not caring about who she was.

"Marie Kanker." Johnny said.

"Jesus and Mary, you gotta be kiddin'!" Kevin exclaimed. "Alright Baldy, tell me what Eddy is up to."

"I don't know that much about Eddy, we don't see him much anymore." Johnny said.

"Sarah." Kevin said dauntingly.

"Okay, okay, Eddy and Nazz are dating now, ya happy?" he said.

Kevin dropped Johnny to the ground with a shocked face. Johnny and Plank ran off as fast as they could. Kevin turned around and faced the fence. He took his fist and punched a large hole in it.

"Dang it! Eddy, out there dorkin' it up with Nazz? Double D and trashy Marie? I'm gonna fix this once and for all" Kevin said with a vengeful smile as he laughed psychotically and walked back into the house.

Double D sat around waiting for Saturday to arrive. Most of the week he had spent watching television with Ed and Eddy in Ed's basement. By the time Saturday afternoon came, Double D was sitting in his room looking at a scientific journal when he saw Marie coming down the street and toward his house.

"Oh, joyous rapture, she is here." he told himself as he ran down the stairs and opened the door right as she came up to it.

"Welcome back darling, how was your visitation?" Double D asked.

"Glad to be back, and it was pretty good. We all got to talk about family history and got to look at some family pictures. Here, I brought you back this picture of my great-grandfather I was telling you about last week." Marie said as she pulled out an old black and white picture and handed it to Double D. It was an old picture from around 1941 or somewhere like that. It was a professional picture of a man in a Nazi uniform and stein helm helmet, signature of the Nazi Heer. He had a few medals and ribbons. He had light brown hair and dark, piercing eyes. He was clean shaven and Double D could tell by the picture that he was quite pale and almost sickly looking. He looked scared, almost as if he was forced to take this picture. In the white space below the picture read KLAUS FREDIK KANKER, 2nd PRIVATE, HEER, 3 DEC. 1942. Double D flipped the picture around and looked at the watermark on the back of the picture. It was the iconic word "Ja" printed in the usual German manuscript writing and the eagle with the swastika underneath, the traditional emblem of Nazi Germany.

"Very interesting indeed Marie, thank you for sharing this piece of family history with me." Double D said as he handed the picture back to Marie and she put it back in her pocket.

"I can't stay long, I have to back to help unpack." she said.

"Marie, I have a question to ask you." Double D said, staring into her eyes.

"What is it cutie?" she asked.

"Would…., would you like to go to Mass with me in the morning?"


	14. Chapter XIV

Chapter XIV

"Go to Mass?" Marie asked.

"Yes, Mass. Come on Marie, I am sure you will find it most enjoyable." Double D said in a convincing voice.

"Well, if it makes you happy, what the heck, I'll go." Marie said.

"So, what will I have to do?" Marie asked.

"Well if you get here early, I will give you a personal rundown myself." he said.

"Okay, what time, and what should I wear?" she asked.

"Just come here at 7:00 in the morning, and your mode of dress should be nice and conservative, a nice dress or a blouse and skirt would be alright." Double D said.

"Okay Oven Mitt, I'll see you in the morning." Marie said as she kissed Double D and walked out the door.

"Salutations Marie." he said as he waved goodbye, then went up to his room, and resumed his reading, then went to sleep, anxious about tomorrow.

When the morning came, Double D got up at his usual early rise of 5:00 AM. He went down to the kitchen and made himself a pot of coffee and poured a bowl of cereal. After eating and drinking about 3 cups of coffee, he went up to shower and dress. He put on a white button-down short sleeve shirt with a blue tie and blue pants. He stood in the mirror as he shaved and parted his hair. Before he knew it, it was already 6:50. He heard a ring at the door as he was pouring his fifth cup of coffee. He ran to the door and opened it. There stood Marie. She had on a gray skirt that came slightly below her knees, and a white blouse. Double D was shocked to see her hair, while in her usual style, was brunette instead of blue.

"Mari, you look fabulous, and your hair is,…is,…"

"Natural." she said, as she finished his sentence.

"Yes," he said, "quite."

"Well, I didn't want all those church people to freak out when they saw me with blue hair. Plus, I thought you would like to see my real hair, just like you let me see your real hair."

"Well Marie, I think you look absolutely stunning." he said.

"Thank you boyfriend, and you look handsome as well." she said.

"Thank you Marie, come into the family room, and I will go over the thing with you."

"Okay." she said as she and Double D went into the family room.

"Please Marie, have a seat. Coffee?" he asked.

"No thanks." she said as she sat down on the couch. Double D took a sip of his coffee and pulled out a poster board with steps written on it and a telescoping pointer in his hand.

"Okay," Double D said, pointing at Step 1 on the board, "step one is the beginning. At the beginning of Mass, the priest and altar boys will come in as we sing the entrance chant out of the hymnal. He will walk up to the altar and bow to it, then he will go up and stand at his chair. He will conduct the parishioners, that's us, in the Sign of the Cross."

"That's is this, right?" Marie said as she made the sign of the cross.

"Correct, now, then the priest will conduct us in the Penance, which is also in the pew. I will give you the paper with it on there. Then the cantor will lead us in the Kyrie Ellison."

"Who is the cantor?" Marie asked.

"He is the man who sings. Now, step two, after the Kyrie Ellison, the priest will say a prayer, then we will sit down in the pew. The next step is the liturgy. That is when people from the congregation stand up at the podium to read the passages from the Bible. First there will be an Old Testament reading, then a response psalm, where we repeat a psalm that is read. Then there will be a reading from one of the epistles of the New Testament. And remember, after each reading, the reader will say 'Verbum Domini' to which you will reply 'Deo Gratias.'"

"That's Latin, right?" she asked.

"Right, now, the next step. After the last reading, we will all stand again for the 'Alleluia' singing. After each verse the cantor sings, you will sing 'alleluia' three times. The priest will now be at the podium, and he will say 'Dominus vobiscum' to which you will reply 'Et cum Spiritu tuo.' He will then say 'Liberi evangelli secundum; and whatever gospel he is reading, all while crossing his forehead, lips, and chest. You will then say 'Gloria Tibi Domine'. We stand as he reads the gospel, and after he is done, he will say 'Verbum Domini' and we will say 'Laus tibi Christe.' We will sit down as he delivers the homily, or sermon on the liturgy. After the homily, we will have the "Lord, hear our prayer" prayer as we stand. We will sit as the priest prepares for the Eucharist, which is Holy Communion. After he is donehe will initiate the process. Just follow my lead and read the reponses off the papers in the pew. After the 'Sanctus' hymn, we kneel down in the pew. After the ending 'amen' we will stand up to say the Our Father, which is the Lord's prayer. But remember, it ends after the 'evil.' After the priest gets done with the prayer, we respond 'For the kingdom, the power, and the glory is yours, now and forever." After that, we sing the 'Agnus Dei' as the priest prepares the bread. Afterwards, we will kneel again for the breaking of the bread. The priest will recite the 'Lamb of God' then we will respond 'Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the words and my soul shall be healed.' After that, the priest takes the Eucharist and gives it to the altar boys, the cantor, and the pianist. And then we stand up for the procession. When you get one person behind the priest, kneel down and give the Sign of the Cross. Now, for the important part, when you get to the priest, make an 'x' with your arms by putting your palms on your shoulders. Since you can't take the Eucharist, this will signal the priest to give you a short blessing instead. When you are done, come back to the pew and kneel back down. After the priest is done with the Eucharist, he will say 'let us pray.' We stand up as he says 'Dominus vobiscum' then we say 'Et cum spiritu tuo'. He will say a closing prayer as he will say 'go in peace' and we say 'thanks be to God.' One of the altar boys will get the processional crucifix, and they and the priest will leave as we sing an exit hymn. Then we get up and leave. We go with the procession to greet the priest, then we go home. Now, any questions?"

"Yeah, why can't I take the Eucharist?" Marie asked.

"Because in Catholicism, we believe that once the priest says the prayer, the bread and wine become the true body and blood of Christ. And only members can partake in it."

"Okay, and one more thing, what is the priest's name?"

"His name is Father Espicce. Now, are you ready?" he asked.

"Well, a lot of it is very similar to Lutheranism, so I am pretty prepared.

"Well, let's go." he said, "It's already 7:30."

The two left and went over to Eddy's house. Eddy, his mom, and dad were all getting in the car, which was a 2007 Ford Fusion. Eddy signaled Double D and Marie. He was wearing similar clothes to Double D. He turned to his mom and said, "Hey mom, is it alright if Double D brings his girlfriend this morning?"

"Certainly, but you all will have to squeeze in." his mom said.

"Hello there Double D," Eddy's father said from the driver's seat, "I see you have a lady with you know, hello Marie, I am Mr. McGee, this is the Mrs., and you know Eddy." he said shaking Marie's hand.

"Hey Marie, your hair is different today, it looks nice." Eddy said.

"Thanks Eddy." she told him.

When they arrived at the Peach Creek Cathedral, the five piled out of the car. They saw Ed and his family in the parking lot. Ed had on the same as Eddy and Double D, except without the tie, and his hair was combed.

They all went inside. It was a beautiful church. The walls were lined with stained glass windows of the saints, and there was a beautiful crucifix hanging over the altar. The tabernacle in front glazed a gorgeous gold glow from the candles in front of it. There were many people there, about 200, mainly older adults and old people. Ed, his mom, dad, and Sarah sat in one of the middle pews, and the McGees, Double D, and Marie sat behind them. As they stood for the entrance chant, Marie was comfortable with it, and the three altar boys, one holding the procession crucifix, and the priest, Father Espicce, walked in. Fr. Espicce was an older man with gray hair and round glasses. He was clean shaven, and of course had his white and green clerical vestments on. The Mass continued on very nicely. Marie enjoyed it very much and did everything Double D told her too, even the Eucharist blessing.

After Mass, everybody proceeded to greet the priest. About half way through, he greeted Eddy first.

"Ah, Eddy, good day and God's blessing to you, you look as slick as ever." Fr. Espicce said to him.

"Thanks Fr. E, and same to you." he relplied.

"Ah, and Ed, I see you still are as involved as ever."

"Roger dodger that Fr. E!" Ed said as he saluted him. Believe it or not, Ed is always very serious at Mass.

Double D and Marie stepped up to him next.

"Oh, and young Edward, how are you doing my boy, and how are your parents?" he asked as he shook Double D's hand.

"They are doing quite well." he replied.

"Good, and who is this young beaury Edward, have you taken to court a young girl Edward, you sly devil you!" Fr. Espicce said, nudging him.

"Fr. Espicce, I would like you to meet Marie, my girlfriend.":

"Oh yes, you were the one I gave the blessing to at Eucharist, yes. Well, you are a fine young women and I am proud that you are dating Edward, one of the brightest of my flock of parishioners. I just hope that you make each other happy in the presence of God the Father, and Marie, you will always be welcome in my parish. You are a fine young woman, and you seem to have a heart and soul of gold. Just keep Edward in check." he said nudging Double D again.

"You did well, Edward," Fr. Espicce whispered to Double D, "just don't come to me for a confession, you hear."

"Very well Father, very well."

"Benedicine, Edduardo, Benedicine!" he said as he and Marie left the doors to regroup with the others.

"That was amazing Double D, I can't wait until next Sunday." Marie said.

"I am glad you enjoyed it Marie." Double D replied.


	15. Chapter XV

Chapter XV

Marie and Edd climbed in the car as the sped off back to the cul-de-sac. He and Marie went back to his house, as Double D was going to show Marie how to properly organize and store clothes in a chest-of-drawers. Eddy went up to Ed as soon as both had changed into regular clothes and come back outside. It was a slightly mild day, with temperatures only in the upper 70s, and it was overcast with gray clouds.

"Hey Ed, how's about we walk around a little, see what we can get into?" Eddy asked Ed as they stood on the sidewalk.

"Okey-dokey artichokey!" Ed said back.

They two began walking around and toward the alley way. As soon as they started going down, they heard a sound coming from the dumpster. Before they knew it, Lee and May Kanker popped out from behind it, and stood there, Lee with her hands on her hips, and May looked slightly nervous.

"KANKERS!" Eddy screamed, "Run for it lumpy!" The two ran down past them. Lee of course just tripped Eddy and drug him back to a hidden spot.

"Help, help, HELP!" Eddy said as he was drug from view.

Ed and May just stood there, making eye contact, which is something Ed would rarely do. Both wanted to say something, but both were too shy to say it. Ed dug his foot in the dirt for a moment, and May looked at the ground before she finally broke the ice and spoke up to Ed.

"Ed, there is something I need to talk to you about." She said as she motioned her hand to a hidden spot behind a tree. "Come, we can go over there."

Ed followed her without saying a word. May and he walked over to the tree as May sat down with her legs crossed and leaning against the tree. Ed copied her by folding his legs and sitting against the fence. They stared at each other for about another couple minutes or so. Just as before, both really wanted to say something, but the situation was so awkward for both that they couldn't spit it out. Finally, again as before, May spoke up.

"Ed, I just want you to know that,….I'm sorry for giving you the wrong impression of me at first. I know for two years, well, we haven't got to know anything about each other at all. Maybe if we do like Double D and Marie did, and got to know each other a little more, maybe,…I don't know,….we could,…..belong together."

Ed just sat there, his jaw open and his eyes like a stone. Inside, his real human feelings were singing a high C as his own dreams were coming true. He had always felt that he was alone in his feelings for May were true. He always thought that she would refuse any advance he took for her and that she would just toss them off as a joke, similar to the "reverse psychology" technique they had used before. However, on the other hand, he had wanted to express his feelings for awhile now, but since he hadn't seen May for well over a year, besides at school, he never had a private opportunity to do so. Now that he did indeed have his chance, he certainly didn't want to blow it.

"May, you could,…." Ed said as he gulped and took a deep breath, "you could come over to my house tonight, I have no movies to watch," Ed said as he breathed a sigh a relief. He had let out his true side, the side that was hidden up under all that goofiness and, as Double D put it, "blissful ignorance." May was shocked to see him act so serious and stern. His voice was as level as his head. Never changed throughout his whole sentence. Each word followed the next in a perfect train of thought. Inside, she was melting like an ice cream cone. She had also thought Ed would just blow her off and run, not giving her the time and respect for her feelings. She, for the first time, and begun to actually ponder a serious relationship between her and Ed.

"Okay Ed, I guess I can come over tonight, at eight maybe?" she asked, hoping to seal the deal.

Ed nodded back, and a slight smile came over his face. He didn't want to scare May off by proclaiming his feelings right there to her, but decided to wait until tonight.

"Oh, thank you Big Ed!" May exclaimed as she leaned over and grabbed Ed in an embrace type hug. Ed, happy in his thought, hugged her in the same embrace back. May would have liked to explode inside with happiness and, dare she think it, love?

She skipped off back to her trailer, whistling a new tune. The gravy train had docked at the station, and this was one ride she was not going to miss by a long shot.

Ed stood up and brushed off his pants. He exclaimed in his goofy, happy voice and said, "I am one happy cucumber!" as he hugged himself with an ear-to-ear grin and danced around the alley, humming a tune of joy . He then also proceeded to practically skip home with happiness.

Meanwhile, just as Ed and May were talking, Lee had drug Eddy back to a dark spot behind the dumpster.

"Alright, listen up stumpy, I wanna know what you think you're doin' with that blonde haired slut, huh?" Lee demanded from Eddy as she stood above him.

"Oh, you don't, do ya?" she asked as she started pulling his thumb back in a game of uncle.

"Alright, alright, jeez, Nazz is my girlfriend now, and don't ever call her that again or I'll-" he was cut off by Lee.

"Girlfriend, huh? What ya doin' runnin' around on me like this? You know we are together, you an' I." Lee said in a jealous tone.

"Us? Together? You on crack now or somethin'? Now get off me, I got a date tonight ya know, I don't wanna go messin' up my nice clothes. My lady digs to motiff, you spot me? I can't have you givin' me a neck roll and messin' up my jive." Eddy said as he got up and dusted himself off, and started to walk off.

"See ya later handsome. I'm not givin' up that easy. I'll be back, just you wait an' see." Lee shouted in her cupped hands as Eddy started to walk off further.

"It's in the fridge, daddi-o." he said as he snapped his fingers and continued on to his house.

"I'll be back," Lee said to herself in a reassuring way, "I'll be back. And what the heck was that gibberish he was speakin' back there. What does he think he is some pimp now, now that's he's got a half-way girlfriend. I knew he'd never give me a chance." She now lowered her head a little and walked home, in a very melancholy mood. Almost as if her heart had been broken in half.

Back at Double D's house, Double D had just brought out a fresh load of laundry as he was about to show Marie his method of organizing his clothes.

"Now Marie, we start off with the fold. Now, on this t-shirt," Double D said, picking up one of his usual red t-shirts, "you want to lay it out flat. Now, I just use my bed as a platform, but any decent medium height flat surface will suffice. Now the first thing you do is fold it in half, having both sleeves together and facing the left. Then, you take the sleeves and fold them in, alining the sleeve seam with the shirt, Then you just fold the shirt up, then up again, and you have a perfect folded shirt." he said, showing her the finished product of the fold.

"Well, tah-da! You really are a jack off all trades, and it seems a master of all." Marie said.

"Well Marie, I have dedicated most of my life to chores. My mother and father taught me since I was young. My father got used to it from folding his own in the military, and showed me his methods. I have since dedicated myself to mastering the wrinkle-free life style, and I don't mean the ones on my face." he said as both stated chuckling at Double D's well made joke.

They continued to fold his clothes until he came across something and he blushed a high red.

"What is it Double D?" Marie asked as she put her hand on his arm. Seeing her beautiful face and even more stunning brunette hair made him cough out the answer as though he was a puppet and she a ventriloquist.

He pulled up what he was hiding in the basket and showed her. It was his underwear. They were Fruit of the Loom boxer briefs. They were a teal color and had a gray waistband. He blushed again as she spoke up.

"Is that all?" she asked with a reassuring voice and a slight overhead chuckle that came from relief. "You don't have to be embarrassed, I saw these the other week, when, well, we went to the next-next level. And at least I know you washed 'em, because they way you sounded that night, they probably needed two or three washes." she said as both burst out laughing as Marie had turned what was a very awkward situation into a humerous and more casual situation for the both of them by cracking a joke. They had both become so situated with each other that this become a normal routine for them.

They continued to fold the clothes until the basket was empty. After all the clothes were perfectly organized and put away, Marie felt like she had never known how to fold a piece of cloth before she meet Double D. She couldn't wait to wash clothes at home and impress everyone with her new skills.

"Well, I have to go know, busy evening, ya know." Marie said to Double D. She kissed him after he had said his goodbyes and left. She went straight back to the trailer and went inside. May was in the shower getting ready for her first meeting with Ed. Lee was leaned over the sofa, and she sniffled a bunch as Marie came in the door. It was obvious she had been crying, for you could see the stains on her face and her cracking voice, not to mention the box of Kleenexes next to the couch on the floor. The pile of used ones could rival Mt. Everest in size. There had to be a better part of a box of them piled up.

"Oh, hey Marie, how'd it go?" Lee asked, trying to cover up her previous emotions.

"Oh, Mass was great Lee. I am going to start going every Sunday with Oven Mitt now." Marie responded.

"That is very great." Lee said sniffling and with a cracked voice.

"Say, what gives with the Kleenexes?" she asked Lee in a sisterly concerned way.

"Oh nothing, just allergies. That maple is a killer, ya know," she said.

"Where's May?" Marie asked.

"Oh, she's up takin' a shower, thank God finally. Apparently she's got some big hot date tonight with Big Ed. Looks like she jumped on him just as easy as you jumped on ole Double D. She is very happy Marie. I ain't seen her this happy since she found 50 cents and a couple old Cheetos in the couch cushins." Lee said as her and Marie both cracked up at Lee's last statement.

"I am so happy for her," Marie said, "she has finally chased her dream down. Now we just have to wait for you and Eddy Lee, then we will all be happy together as Kanker's and Ed's and this time the feelings will be for real."

Lee looked down at the floor as she was reminded why she was crying in the first place. But she all of a sudden perked up as May suddenly walked down the stairs. She had her usual hair style, except it was turned up at the ends in a Jackie Kennedy style. She had a pink bow in her hair and a pink dress with belt, very similar to the one she wore for Ed the first time she meet him.

"Whoo, that's my girl right there, go get 'em killa." Lee called out as she came into the living room. May blushed terribly.

"You look very nice May, I am sure you will know the ole pants off Ed, maybe both in the idiom and literal since." Marie said.

"Whoa ho ho, don't go that far on the first date May, just go in and have fun. Make him feel like he deserves you. Well, I guess it is just me and you tonight Marie. Have fun May, and come back with good news and juicy details." Lee said.

"Lee, don't you dare think for a second that I will wait on you for anything. Anyway, see ya May, have fun." Marie said.

"Thanks guys, see ya later." May said as she waved to them and walked out the door. As soon as it closed behind her, he took a deep breath as she walked on toward the cul-de-sac just as the sun was dipping below the western front.


	16. Chapter XVI

I just want to say Happy Independence Day to all out there. America is still the best country on the face of the Earth, and I don't care what people say, patriotism is not propaganda. Show your love of this great place today. If not for our great ancestors, we would all still be British today.

Also, I just want to say RIP to Andy Griffith, who died Monday at the age of 86. He was a great American hero and legend and will be greatly missed this Fourth of July.

The song that appears at the end of the chapter

watch?v=etpuOWFrMsM

Chapter XVI

Meanwhile, earlier that day as May was just getting back to the trailer, Ed went into panic mode. He immediately ran through the front door and through his house. His mom was slightly concerned at this, and spoke to him

"Ed dear, what is wrong?" she asked.

"Got to clean room!" he yelled as he continued running down to the basement and into his room. He immediately ran to the tub of gravy and sucked it all up with a straw. He pushed the tub into his closet and shut the door. After that, he went though and picked up all the trash and put it into a large garbage bag. By the time he was finished, he had 3 32 gallon bags full. He ran up to the utility closet across from his room and grabbed the vacuum cleaner and vacuumed his whole room's floor and even attempted to vacuum the walls and ceiling, but to no avail. He tidied up his chair and put up all of his video tapes. After placing all of them in chronological order on his movie shelf, Ed made his bed and dusted off the TV set. He finished it all up by spraying some Lysol all over and putting Febreez on all the furniture.

After all was said and done, his room could rival Double D's in cleanliness. He took about two hours, and Ed was dog tired after all of it. His mom walked down to the door and peeped in. Ed was now resting in his chair and had just cut the TV on to the SciFi channel and was watching a movie about giant bees that attack a major city.

"Ed, what is the meaning of all this cleaning? I have never seen your room so nice. It would be nice if you did this more often." his mother said.

Ed wiggled around in nervousness. He couldn't bring himself to actually tell his mother he had a date with a girl tonight. He started biting his fingernails and looking around the room, hoping to find an excuse some where.

"Uh,…..I'm uh,…having a friend over tonight mom." he said.

"Oh, well, I hope you have fun." she said as she left his room and closed his door. After she heard the door shut, she spoke to herself. "Something is not kosher about this, Ed has never cleaned his room before, for any friend. I have a feeling that this 'friend' is a little more than that, and may even be a member of the opposite sex. I hope it is anyway."

She then walked up the stairs and back into her sewing room, where she was working on a sweater for her husband.

"Now I have to shower, with,…soap," Ed said in a terrified voice. But he was willing to do even the most terrible things to himself for May to like him, he hurried into his bathroom and took a quick shower and shaved as well. He couldn't remember the last time he had showered or even picked up a bar of soap. He didn't linger long in the shower, and made it as quick as possible. After wards, he picked out some clothes to wear. He finally picked out a teal polo shirt and some khaki pants. He put on the pants and shirt, being sure to tuck in his shirt and slide on a black belt and shoes to go with it. He squirted on some of his dad's Aqua Velva aftershave. He looked at the mirror and decided he needed to do something with his hair.

"Hey, I still have that junk of Eddy's!" he declared as he looked in his cabinet and found the can of pomade that Eddy had forgotten one evening when he came over to watch TV with Ed. Eddy constantly carried around a can of pomade in his back pocket at all times, and that night he had gone into Ed's bathroom to 'change the oil' in his hair and had left it on the sink. Ed held on to it for one day when he would need it. He took his comb and wiped the pomade back and forth onto it. Ed took and parted his hair to the left, like Double D had done, and how his father wore his hair. He at first wanted to part it down the middle like Double D and Eddy had done when they made him "cool," but his hair wasn't trained enough to it and it wouldn't stay. So he decided to part it to the left like he wore it at church. His hair was used to it, and it stayed perfect. He combed over it a couple more times with the pomade just to make sure. After he put the lid back on the can and slipped his comb in his back pocket, he looked back in the mirror and couldn't believe he was looking at himself. He felt like he was looking at his father, or maybe his grandfather, but not him. Not silly, goofy old Ed. He felt almost as if he had matured greatly by making this move. It was his first step toward manhood, like both his friends Eddy and Edd had done before him. Now that was finally moving up to that step, he wanted it to be a perfect step.

Around 7:30, May was coming down the sidewalk and up to the house. She rang the door bell and a man came up to the door. He was tall, very tall, around 6'7" and very thin. He had parted brownish red hair similar to Ed's and Sarah's. He was clean shaven and had more toned skin like Ed. If nobody knew what an age difference was, one could swear that he and Ed were twins. He had on a white long sleeve work shirt and green Dickie pants, almost exactly like Archie Bunker's from _All in the Family. _He looked down at May and spoke in a deep voice.

"Hello little lady, how can I help you." he said.

May was almost scared of him, with him being so tall. She was quite nervous to speak to Mr. Laughorne, and she stuttered a little at first upon meeting him.

"Uh,….hel….lo Mr. Laughorne, I am her to see your son, Ed." she said, finally getting it all out of her.

"Ah, you must be his girlfriend. Funny he hasn't told us about ya. Of course, he spends all got-dang day down in that basement of his, so who the hell knows. Oh, sorry for my language. Come on in, my wife will see if you need anything. JANET, Ed has a visitor, so get in here!" Mr. Laughorne said as he held the door for May as she stepped in and closed the door behind her.

"Thank you, sir." she said as she stood there, still nervous.

"Oh, no problem. The Mrs. will be in in a minute, she's in her seamstress mode right now, Hard to knock 'er out of it sometimes. It she isn't in here in a couple minutes, just let me know, I'll go get her. If not, you can just go down to the basement where Ed's room's at. All ya gotta do is take and go down this hall, take left right there at the stairs, and go down 'em until ya get to a door. You open it and go down some more stairs and you'll see a washer and dryer and a door next to 'em. There will be a door at ya right with a poster on it. That's his room. Just knock a couple times and he'll answer it."

"Thanks so much." she said.

"Don't mention it, and hey, I'm Mr. Laughorne, but you can call me Edwin, or Ed Sr., if it makes ya feel more comfortable or anything, though it's completely up to you." Mr. Laughorne said as he shook her hand. She felt great that she had earned the respect of Ed's father right off the bat. She could tell he liked her, and was happy for his son.

Mr. Laughorne then told her "Have fun." and waked back into the living room, and kicked back in his recliner and took a sip of his Miller bottle as he laughed at the show _M*A*S*H _as it was on television.

May went down the directions she had been give and came down the stairs. She saw the washer and drier, and saw the door with the poster on it. She knocked three times and waited for a minute. She heard ruckus in the room and then the door opened before her. She was shocked to see Ed in the way he looked, and Ed was glorified to see her in here dress. He looked her up and down, especially at her chest area. May noticed his wandering eyes and blushed for a minute. Then she spoke up.

"Stop it Ed, you're making me nervous." she said, almost not minding it.

Ed shook his head and snapped back into it. He made the Sign of the Cross to help nullify all the dirty thoughts that had raced through his mind after gazing at May. He decided to act more gentlemanly and welcome her in.

"Sorry May, please, come in and make yourself feel like a toadstool in the sun." he said, returning to his goofy voice.

"Okay, Mr. Ed." she said as she walked in and Ed closed the door. She sat down on the edge of his bed and Ed joined in right beside her. They both blushed as they had never been so close together before.

"May, you look as if an angel from Heaven got shot down by Slug-u-la's photon mucus and landed on Earth. And God let me have you as my own." Ed said, couldn't believing he had just said a very romantic thing wrapped up in a goofy sci fi reference.

"Ah, jeez, Big Ed, you are just too much. And you look like a real gentleman tonight. You look like you could be going golfing any minute." May said, almost dying inside by his comment on her.

"Ah, I don't look that great. I just slapped this together at the last minute." he said, looking down at the ground.

"Well, you look great, and I love it." May said, anxious to say something else.

"You look very beautified too May. I like you more than any pudding skin or gravy tub in the world. I like you a lot May, but have never been able to say it." he said. May was shocked that he had proclaimed his feelings to her so quick and calmly, almost as if he had rehearsed it several times over. She had to bring herself to do the same.

"Well Ed, I have always like you too. It's just that I was scared you wouldn't like me back, and my heart would be broken. But I am very happy now that I know our feeling are shared." she said, feeling very relieved afterwards.

Ed now slipped his arm around May's shoulders. She didn't mind it at all, but flinched slightly as she had never see him be seriously intimate before.

"Well, now we have all the time in the world to talk about it!" Ed proclaimed as he squeezed her close to his side.

"Big Ed, does that,…does that mean that you want me to be…."

"My girlfriend! Absolutely pudding cup. You are mine and mine alone. Huh, mine alone." he screamed, happy as he could ever be, and grabbed her in a tight embrace. She embraced him back and put her head on his shoulder, as she couldn't believe all these good things were happening to her.

Ed quickly got up and grabbed May's hand with it.

"Come May, let us dance the dance of love." Ed said as he started skipping around with May.

"Oh Ed, you are just a bundle of fun." She said back.

The two sat down on the bed again and started laughing. May looked up and noticed the crucifix above Ed's door, and especially the Bible next to his bed.

"So Ed, I see you are Catholic like Double D." she said.

Yeah, my family is Irish. My grandparents live in Ireland. We have always been very religious and what not. I like the Bible. Does your family have religion?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, we're Lutheran. But we don't go to church much anymore. I saw how excited Marie was when she got back from Mass with Double D. I was thinking that since me and you are together now, maybe I could go with you this Sunday?" she asked.

"Absoluetly pudding cup. You can come with Ed." he said.

"So Ed, you like science fiction movies a lot, don't you?" May asked.

"Ah yeah, I love them. I watch them all the time. Everybody says I am stupid for watching movies with low budgets and cheesy acting, but I think they are more enjoyable than all the big movies that come out. I can sit here and watch them all day and still enjoy each one just as much as the last. When I'm not watching my tapes, I watch the SciFi channel on TV. I have watched sci fi movies for 34 hours straight one time, huh. Do you like those movies, May?" he asked her.

"Oh, I love alien movies. After Marie and Lee go to sleep, I pop in my alien tapes and watch them until midnight sometimes. I guess that is why I am always paranoid of getting abducted all the time." May said.

"Yeah, alien movies are good too. Not very scary though. I like scary movies. But I don't get scared."

"Ed, I have to say, I have never seen you this vocal or, well, normal before. Are you just like this to me, or what?"

"Well, when I'm around Eddy, he does all the smooth talking, so I don't get to do much of that, and Double D, he says all the smart stuff, so I don't get to say any of that. That leaves me to say all the goofy stuff. I love being able to make my friends laugh, and more importantly, to make you laugh. I am really smart at a lot of stuff, but I never get a chance to say any of it." Ed said.

"Well, you can say it all to me Big Ed, but I have to ask, why did you run so hard from me all those times?"

"Well May, I felt like you would put me in a position where I would feel it necessary to tell you my real feelings, and that you would reject them, and I would feel like a bad Ed." he said.

"Ed, all that is past us now, and we can be ourselves. Now that I have gotten to know you, you are one of the sweetest gentlemen I have ever seen. And I have always thought that."

"Ah, thank you May." he said, blushing slightly.

The two sat there and talked for a couple more hours. Before they knew it, it was already 10 o'clock. May go up off the bed.

"Well Big Ed, I have to go. Our mom gives us a curfew of 10:30. So, I'll see you later." May said.

"Ed will walk you home, for it is dark out and I will not have you get hurt." he said as he grabbed her hand.

"Well shucks, gee, thanks Ed." she replied.

The two walked out the door and through the cul-de-sac. The stars were shining bright and the moon was in a gibbous stage. They reached the trailer fairly quickly.

"Well Ed, I have had a more than wonderful night. I would love to do it again soon. I love being with you so much. I don't want it to ever end." May said, with their hands together.

"Pudding cup, you are the star in my eye, and you can come over tomorrow night and spend time with this flathead once more." Ed proclaimed.

The two looked at each other for a moment, before they started leaning in to each other. The embrace and kissed each other in a lovely lover's kiss. Ed was on cloud nine, as was May. May went back in the trailer and Ed walked out of the park, and toward his house, feeling like his manhood could be no greater than tonight.

_But the love light in my eyes_

_Will never, ever dim._

_Don't be afraid, let true love begin. _

_I know the feeling that you feel is new_

_You're heart still wants to hide._

_The feeling that you're feeling_

_I'm feeling too. _

_It's love it cannot be denied. _

_So take my hand_

_I'll always be at your side._

_There's no need for you to hide. _

_So listen to your heart _

_That's been telling you from deep within _

_Don't be afraid, let true love begin. _


	17. Chapter XVII

Just like to add that I heard that Cartoon Network is possibly planning on bringing back reruns of Ed Edd n Eddy and possibly even Courage the Cowardly Dog. Just a rumor though, so don't give your hopes up. Heard it from some Youtube commenter, so you know how that goes.

Songs referenced in this chapter

watch?v=0S13mP_pfEc

watch?v=T4dHkSAciJs

Chapter XVII

At home, Double D was sitting in his family room watching television. It was Sunday night, so of course their was not much on as far as programming is concerned. He eventually flipped it on some game show of some type. He wasn't really paying attention anyway. He was thinking of Marie.

All of a sudden, in an out-of-nowhere fashion, Ed bust through Double D's front door and ran up and grabbed Double D in a tight bear hug.

"Ed, what in heavens is wrong with, can you not see I am in a resting position? Double D shrieked.

Ed now stated to dance around the room and twirl around and around again.

"I'm in love, I'm in love Double D, and I don't care who knows it!" he screamed as he continued to dance around.

"In love with whom Ed, you are being frankly general in your statements?"

"WITH MAY!" he screamed, as Eddy, who had been walking back to his own house coming from Nazz's had heard and started heading toward Double D's house.

"You mean, May Kanker, Marie's sister?" Double D asked.

"Uh-huh, and she loves me back. We just had a date Double D, and now we are girlfriend and flathead boyfriend." Ed replied as he hugged himself.

"Well I am quite proud of you Ed. You seem to have found happiness within yourself, and that is just wonderful." Double D replied.

"And I am too." Eddy said as he climbed over the busted down door and into the family room. He startled the two other Eds slightly, but soon grabbed Ed in a head lock and started rubbing his head.

"Ah, I knew you had it in ya somewhere, ya old softy. Come here!" Eddy said.

"This calls for a celebration boys. We are all lady-fied men, and we need to act as such. Come with me boys, we're are goin' out for a night on the town." Eddy said, snapping his fingers as he finished.

"Where on Earth could we be heading to at 10 o'clock at night, Eddy?" Double D demanded.

"We are goin' ca-ruzin' pretty boy. Can't call ya sockhead anymore, ya know. Anyway, you got a bike, don't ya?" Eddy said.

"Well, not per-se, my father's old Schwin is in the shed. But I must say it is quite antiquated." Double D said.

"Ah, it'll do just fine. And Ed, I know you gotta bike. Now, just let me go slip inta somethin' a little, how would I put it, superfly. Now, you boys meet me out here with your bikes. Ed, you are lookin' cool, Double D, you go ahead and slip inta somethin' a little more casual too. Just meet me out in front of my house, you dig." Eddy said as he left out of the house.

"Rodger dodger, captain." Ed said as he saluted and left to get his bike.

Double D went up to his room and slid on a light blue polo shirt and a nice pair of Levis. He then went out to the shed and unlocked the door and slid it back. He saw the covered up coveted 1969 Schwin Stingray bicycle with white wall tires, polished chrome spokes and handlebars, and ocean blue body with white leather seat and peddles. It there was a Cadillac or a Lincoln of bicycles, this was it. He hoped on and rode to Eddy's house and say Ed standing in front of his bike, which was a normal BMX bike, nothing too fancy.

"Wow Double D, you look cool." Ed commented.

"Why thank you Ed, yes, this bicycle is rather slick." he responded.

"What's up boys, how's it been shakin'?" Eddy said as he walked out of the front door. He had on a black-and-white bowling shirt with his name embroidered in white over his left pocket. He also had on khaki pants and black and white dress shoes. His hair was parted in a slicked back style and he had on Ray Ban sunglasses. Eddy thought he was the epitome of cool.

"Double D," he said, whipping off his shades, "I know you got all the rad music, so get your iPod with speakers and hook it up to the back of your bike, so we can ca-ruz in style, if you can dig it."

"Certainly Eddy, let me go get it from the house." he said.

As soon as Double D took off for the iPod, Eddy leaned over to Ed.

"Yo lumpy, that sure is a super-rad bike ole pretty boy's got over there, ain't it?"

"Yeah Eddy, it is pretty cool." Ed said.

"Who knew he was holdin' out on us all these years with that thing."

Double D returned with the iPod and speaker system and bolted them to the rear of the bike.

"Alright, let's give this a run, shall we?" Double D said as he turned it on. The song that came on was Del Shannon's, _Runaway, _and the sound was loud and crystal perfect.

"Alright Double D, let's roll!" Eddy said as he, Ed, and Double D all boarded their bikes and rode out of the cul-de-sac and into town. Riding in the street light, they rode on.

Once they got into town, Eddy took a turn down Green Street and onto Main street. All the neon from the stores open illuminated the night. Signs advertising everything from Irish pubs to used cars, and everything in between. Many other teenagers were riding their bikes along the sidwalks, and the Eds felt like kings among them.

"Boys, you know as well as I do that no man can celebrate more than with a drink. Root beers on me!" Eddy said as they pulled into the A&W and parked their bikes. Several kids from Lemonbrook were their, and of all people, Jimmy and Sarah were their as well.

"Boys, you guys stand fort while I go get the liquid enhancers, see ya in five." Eddy remarked as he went inside to get the beverages.

Ed spotted Sarah and Jimmy and went over to see what was going on.

"Sarah, you know what mom says about you being out late. You need to get home." he said in the tone that he usually used with Sarah.

"KNOCK IT OFF ED!" she screamed at his face. "Mom said we could stay out until 11:30 as long as Jimmy was with me. Now bug off, or I'll tell mom you were out with your girlfriend doing a certain action all night long." she said with a smile.

"Oh Sarah, please don't do that. I really like May." Ed pleaded with his hands in a pleading posture.

"Then get lost!" she screamed. Ed walked back over to Double D, and Eddy was walking back out with three glass bottles of ice cold root beer. Three guys across from them in the parking lot that were from Lemonbrook started laughing at Ed and Sarah's conversation.

"Cheers boys," Eddy said as the three put their bottles together in a sign of achievment. "to livin' the life with girlfriends at our sides. May our relationships last as long as possible."

"To girlfriends!" they all three cheered as the popped the caps off and chugged down a long swig of their root beers.

"Girlfriend!" one of the Lemonbrook boys bust out laughing, "the only girls you nerds get are the ones you gotta blow up!"

"Hey what gives, you guys callin' us out like that. You guys wish you could get within 5 feet of girls like we got. I bet you guys gotta dress up in drag and hug each other just to say you met one!" Eddy said, as he put down his drink and walked over to them.

"Whoa-ho, lookey here fellas, we got our selves a real comedian here! Hey shrimp, I gotta joke for you, and it ends with you getting your ass kicked." the guy said.

"Uh-oh, we got ourselves a badass over here boys!" Eddy said, sticking his hands up in the air.

Ed and Double D stated chuckling over Eddy's joke.

"Alright, I'm doin' it." the guy said as he rolled up his sleeves and started to walk toward Eddy.

"Hold it, hold it, hold Rocky, I got an idea. Hows about I race your bike on the side walk down the street. Who ever wins, gets to keep this parking lot for the rest of the summer?" Eddy said, putting his hand out waiting for a shake.

"Race huh, you mean with that Little Tikes junkola you got over there? Sure, what the hey." he said as he and Eddy shook on it. On Double D's speakers, The Beach Boys' _Be True To Your School _started playing.

_When some loud bragger tries to put me down _

_Says his school is great _

_I tell 'em right away_

_Now what's the matter buddy, ain't you heard of my school_

_It's number one in the state_

_So be true to your school now _

_Like you would to your girl or guy _

_Be true to your school now_

_Let your colors fly _

_So be true to your school _

"Them lemon-suckin' sissies ain't gonna know what hit 'em." Eddy said to Ed and Double D as he grabbed his bike and pushed it over to the sidewalk outside of the parking lot.

"Look at those Peach wussies, thinkin' they're all hot stuff, I'll burn 'em right off the sidewalk." the other guy said to his friends.

The two got next to each other on the sidewalk and Double D walked in front of them with a flashlight in his hands. Ed was up at the corner of the street with a homemade flag to wave made out of a bunch of napkins he got from the restaurant.

"You look fast, but you can't ever beat me, I'm the fastest think in Lemonbrook, ain't you ever heard of me?" the guy said to Eddy.

"Naw, I ain't heard of ya. But at least I ain't gotta pull over just to let a funeral go by." Eddy responded, mounting his bike and ready to go.

"Oh, fun-ny!" the other guy said sarcastically as he also mounted his bike.

"Alright gentleman, when I flash this light, that means go. When you get to Ed, he will wave the flag, signaling the end of the race. Obviously, who ever finshes first, wins." Double D said.

"Alright, one, two, three, go!" Double D said as he flashed the light and jumped out of the way.

The two rocketed off, Eddy pulling away with a good lead. The other guy had an angry look on his face when all of a sudden he hit a bump on the path and was sent flying off his bike and hit a light pole, then the ground. Eddy rushed past Ed and screeched to a halt as the other guy rubbed his head and let out a couple of groans. His friends ran over and picked him off the ground as Double D and Ed congratulated Eddy.

"Alright dweeb, you win this one, keep the darn thing!" the other guy said, "come on boys, let's get outta here." The four guys got on their bikes and rode out of sight. The Eds returned to the parking lot and chugged the rest of their root beers and had two more rounds after that.

"Alright boys, we had our victory dance, now let's get on home, I am dog tired." Eddy said as they all mounted their bikes and cruised out of the parking lot and down Main Street, the newly christened Kings of Peach Creek. Nothing could stop them now.


	18. Chapter XVIII

Chapter XVIII

Just as the Eds were returning home, the Kankers were busy talking about May's big night with Ed.

"So May, how'd it go?" Marie asked, as she was lying stomach-down on the couch with her forearms and hands holding up her head.

"Oh Marie, it was wonderful. Ed was all cleaned up and his hair was combed. His room was all organized and clean, and he is a real gentleman. I have never seen him so serious and civilized." Lee said in a dreamy way.

"Well, I'm glad you finally made your dream come true May, I'm happy."

"Say," May said, "where is Lee, she needs to be here for this."

"She went to bed early, she said she doesn't feel like talking right now. She's been acting weird all evening. I don't know what's wrong." Marie said, as she now sat up on the couch and May sat down beside her.

The two sisters watched TV and fell alseep on the sofa.

Back at the cul-de-sac, the boys pulled in and parked infront of Double D's house.

"That sucker-oonie had some moves didn't he, but ole Eddy took care of 'em." Eddy said.

"Yes Eddy, your moves were quite deadly." Double D replied.

"But ya know, somethin' bout that guy gets to me. That red hair creeps me out a little. It's almost like I know him from somewhere." Eddy said, rubbing his chin.

"It's hardly possible you would know him, seeing as he lives and attends at Lemonbrook Eddy." Double D said.

"Yeah, you're right pretty boy. Anyway, see you crazy cats tomorrow, I gotta go get some shut eye."

"Farewell Eddy." Double D said as he walked back into his house.

"See ya Eddy." Ed said as he rode to his house and did the same.

The next day in the cul-de-sac was fairly boring. Nothing new was really happening. Everybody was up to their usual things. Double D was in his room researching on the computer around 1 in the afternoon when he heard the door open and someone come in his room. That person was Marie.

"Hiya boyfriend." Marie said as she waved and sat down on his bed.

"Oh, hello Marie. What do you linger for?" Double D asked.

"I want you to come back to my place, I got some stuff I wanna show you." she said.

"Well Marie, I am kinda in the middle of an intellectual discussion on infinite progression with some moron from Winsconsin." he said as she started to frown a little.

"Oh, come on you big square, you can do your smarty stuff when you come back." she said as she got up and grabbed his hand.

"Well, okay Marie. If you say so." he said they ran out the house and to the trailer. They went inside, and no one was home.

"Lee is out grocery shopping and May's at Ed's house. Come sit down, I got some cool stuff I want you to see." Marie said as the two at down. On the coffee table infront of the couch sat a pile of photo albums, roughly around 5 or 6 large 6" binders full of them.

"Double D, these are my family pictures. We have a lot of them."

"Oh, okay. Can we look at them. I always enjoy a nice visual aid to help with family histories." he said.

"Of course we can. Here, here is the first one." she said as she pulled out a very old leather binded album with the Dutch word "FOTO'S" on the front.

"This is my great-grandfather's old album."

Marie opened it to the first page. Double D noticed the first picture, which was of a man and woman standing infront of an old Dutch farmhouse. The picture was black and white of course, and was starting to fade. The man had on a long sleeve white shirt and trousers. He had short, parted brown hair and had slight stubble on hsi face. The woman had on a long dress and a neckless. She had medium lenght brown hair, very similar to Marie's. Infact, she looked a lot like Marie.

"That's them right after they married in 1937." she said.

There were a few more pictures of them and their house for the next couple of pages until she turned the page and showed a professional picture. It was the same picture of her great-grandfather that she had brought to Double D the fews days in the past. However this one was in color, and showed off his green uniform and olive helmet. There was a picture below it that showed him infront of a large iron gate. Her great-grandfather was standing in front of it, in his uniform, with a Mauser rifle in his hand.

"That's him infront of the gate at Dachau." Marie said.

The next picture was of a bunch of Jewish people in stripped uniforms, like a prison uniform, shoveling dirt. Many of them were older women and children. They looked like they hadn't eaten in months. On the edge of the picute stood Klaus Kanker, holding his rifle in the postion of attention.

After that, there were several more pictures like that, then there was a picture of about 10 Nazi officers, and of all people, Adolf Hitler, standing for a group picture. There were guards on either side of the group, and Klaus Kanker was one of them. He looked scared holding his rifle, for he knew pure evil was right beside him.

"Oh my Marie, that is Adolf Hitler there in the middle." Double D shrieked.

"Yeah, he said he was forced to take the picture with them." Marie replied.

There was another picture of Klaus, in his uniform, this time with a swastika band around his arm. He was standing next to Hendic Hilmer, the officer in charge of the camp.

"That was his commanding officer." she said.

There were many more pictures of the camp. About 4 pages worth. Then she came upon another picture.

"That is him when the Americans liberated the camp." Marie said. It was him standing in the center of the camp, in his Nazi uniform, holding a tiny American flag in his hands.

Many pictures went by. Most of them were him with the American troops. Once she got to the end of the book. Double D noticed a reoccuring theme is all of the Nazi pictures. Klaus never smiled, not once. He said nothing, as Maire continued. she picked up the other one and opened it.

"Now, this book is smaller, but it is of my grandfather."

"Oh, okay." Double D replied.

the first picture in the book was Klaus, his new wife in Detroit, and a baby in their arms in front of their nice suburban house. In the whie space below the picture, written in ink was "Johann Kanker, Age 1".

"That is him as a baby." she said. They looked through many many pictures of him as a kid and teenager, mostly school pictures.

"This is his high school picture." Marie pointed out. It was a picture of him in a black suit and tie and he had dark brown parted hair and a beautiful smile. He looked just like a male version of Marie.

After the high school picture, there was a professional picture of him in an Army dress uniform. It was in color, and the green stood out well above everything else. He had pinned on his uniform a silver star, Cross of valor, bronze star, and purple heart. His rank on his sleeve was staff sergeant.

"This is him in 1956, after the war." she said.

"He must have been quite the war hero, being as he has all of those medals." Double D replied.

"Well, those pictures are on the next page." Marie said as she turned the page. Their was a group picture of about 30 soldiers in a command post in the middle of Korea. On the bottom it said "United States Army, 1st Cavalry Division, 3rd Batallion, 44th Platoon".

"That's him." Marie said, pointing to a man on the front row, kneeling down.

There were several more pictures of battles, him and his buddies, and dead Chineese soldiers. Flipping further, there was a wedding picture of him and his wife. And futher on their was a pictue of a high school girl in a cheerleaders uniform. She had short brunette hair and freckles on either side of her face. It was Ms. Kanker, and she could have been Marie's twin.

"My Marie, your mother looked just like you back then." Double D said.

"Yeah, everyone else thinks so too." Marie said.

She flipped further until she found yet another professional military picture. this time it was of Butch. He was in the typical sailor uniform with white cap. He had buzzed short red hair.

"Is that Butch?" Double D asked.

"Yep, he looks a lot like Lee, doesn't he?" Marie asked.

"Sure does." he said.

There were some more pictures of him on the Navy ship mopping the floor and sweeping. Then their was a picture of Ms. Kanker, Butch, and a young Lee. Butch was in his police dress uniform and had short, ver curly red hair.

"That's where Lee gets her hair." Marie said.

"I see." he replied.

There were many more photos of the happy young family. Many of them from vacations and trips. Then there was a picture of a man in a night guard uniform with hat and short blond hair.

"That's Rod, May's dad." she said.

And again, there were many picutes of the young Kankers, Ms. Kanker, and Rod. Rod, like Butch, was clean shaven for the most part. In a few pictures he had a goatee, but only about three.

After the book was finished, Marie closed it and put it back on the table. Her and Double D fell back on the couch and let out a few sighs.

"Whew, that was a lot of stuff to look through." Marie said.

"It definently was Marie, but your family has a very interesting history. More interesting than mine. And it is amazing that you know all about them and their history, that is always something to cherish, and never let that fade away."

"One memory I will never fade away is you boyfriend." she said in a dreamy voice.

"So, I have heard Lee is not feeling too enjoyed." Double D said.

"Yeah, May told me that she tried to hook up with Eddy, but he rejected her for that slut he is with now." Marie responded.

"Well, Nazz and Eddy aren't necessarily in a relationship now. Nazz is just, well 'hungry' after she left Kevin, and Eddy is willing to try anything."

"Hey, I have a great idea, how about we have a triple date. You and me, Ed and May, and Eddy and Lee. It will be the perfect thing to cheer up Lee, and maybe even get Eddy to realize how much Lee cares about him." Marie said.

"Marie, that is a genius idea, but I don't know how in the world Ed and myself will be able to convince Eddy,-"

"Don't worry, just tell him we are bringing another girl with us. Don't mention Lee's name, just say 'another girl'. Knowing how horny and confident Eddy is, he'll fall for it. And hopefully in no time come to understand Lee's true feelings. I think ole Eddy might be hidding something himself."

"Yes, I also believe Eddy to be surpressing true feelings. Well Marie, it has been lovely, but I need to get home and talk to Ed about the plan of action. What time will it be and where will it be?" Double D asked.

"We can do it at your house, you're a good cook. You can whip us up something, and we can have it there. Say around 7 tomorrow, how does that sound?"

"Sounds terrific, I will relay that information to Ed and we will try to convince Eddy."

"Great." Marie said as she kissed and hugged Double D good bye. "See ya."

"Salutations Marie." he said as he walked out and on his way to see Ed.


	19. Chapter XIX

Here is the link to the song coming up at the end of the story:

watch?v=KnhamPnvXuQ

courtesy of Elvis Presely aka Da King.

Chapter 19

Just as Double D was leaving the trailer, it was roughly 6 PM. May was still at Ed's house. They were busy watching some Invasion by Martians movie on television. Unlike May, Double D new the secret window entrance into Ed's room. He crawled in and sorta shocked Ed and May.

"Double D, what are you doing?" said Ed in a slightly angry tone.

"Yeah Double D, what's wrong." May said, rebutting Ed's statement.

"Ed, May, we must talk. It is a situation dealing with Lee and Eddy." Double D said, approaching the two.

"What is it?" Ed asked.

"Ed, Lee has been upset because Eddy flicked her off when she tried to tell him her feelings. I think Marie wants them to get together, and she wants us to help. Right Double D}?" May said.

"Precisly May. Marie wants us to have a triple date tomorrow night at 7. You and Ed, Marie and myself, and Lee and Eddy. Marie wants me and Ed to convice Eddy to join us, by generalizing who the female will be, by not mentioning Lee's name. By doing this hopefully we will get them both in a postion where they will confess their feeling." Double D responded.

"May, is it okay if I go with Double D to go get Eddy? I will see you later." Ed asked.

"Sure Ed, see ya later." May said.

Ed leaned down and kissed her on the cheeck as she went up the stairs and out the house. Ed and Double D left out the window and started toward Eddy's house. They went through the entrance to his bedroom and found Eddy sitting on the side of the bed reading one of his magazines.

"Double D, lumpy, what gives?" Eddy asked as he quickly put away the magazine.

"Sorry Eddy, we didn't mean to interupt, but we wanted to inquire if you wanted to join Ed and myself on a triple date with a beautiful female?" Double D asked.

"Who is she?" Eddy asked supiciously.

"One of Marie's friends, that's all." Double D said, finding it hard to cover himself.

"Is she hot?" he asked.

"I am sure you will think so." Double D replied.

"Well,...why didn't ya say so. Yeah, I'm in. Stupid Nazz is on vacation anyway. Wouldn't hurt to get a rental till she gets back." Eddy said.

"Very well Eddy. The date will be tomorrow at my house. At 7 PM. Wear something nice." Double D said.

"Gotcha pretty boy, see ya then." he replied.

"Well, salutations Eddy, I will see you in 24 hours." Double D said.

"See ya Eddy." Ed also said.

"See ya boys." Eddy said. The two left his room and he resumed his magazine.

Back at the trailer, May had just gotten back to speak with Marie. She opened the door and saw Marie sitting on the couch chowing away on a box of Twinkies and watching wrestling. In an almost stereotypical fashion, she was taking notes.

"Hey Marie, we gotta talk." May said.

"About what?" Marie said in an annoyed tone and put away her notes.

"About the plan you and Double D made for the triple date tomorrow night. How are we gonna convince Lee to go?"

"No sweat. All we gotta do is mention Eddy. She'll jump right on then."

Just as Marie finished, the two heard the crunching of the gravel traveling off of Lee's shoes as she stepped off of the drive way and on to the steps leading up to the trailer. She twisted the door knob and opened the door. She had two bags of groceries in her hands, mostly filled with Twinkies and soda pop.

"Hey girls, whatcha doin'?" Lee asked as she walked through the living room and into the kitchen, putting away the little groceries she had gotten.

"Lee...?" Marie asked.

"Yeeeeesss..." Lee stretched out as she poked her head around the opening and walked back in, sitting down on the couch. "What is it Marie?"

"We gotta talk." May said as she pulled up a chair and sat next to Marie and Lee on the sofa.

"Bout what?" Lee asked, grabbing a Twinkie out of the box and undoing the wrapper.

"Listen Lee, I know you have been trying to go after Eddy in a real way." Marie started.

"Yeah," Lee said in a meloncholy tone, "what about it?"

"Well, we, meaning me, May, Double D, and Ed put together a triple date for all of us for tomorrow at 7 PM. And you and Eddy will be together."

"Now, how in the heck do you think that'll work?" she asked.

"Well, we are hoping Eddy will come out with his true feelings as well." she said.

"Real feelings, hah. That'll be the day he does that." Lee gaffed.

"No, really Lee. Double D was telling me that Eddy has surpressed feelings, and is too scared and shy to admitt them to you. Maybe this date could be the thing that pulls them out of him." Marie responded as May nodded in agreement.

"Okay girls, we can give it a chance. After all, I got nuttin' to lose, right? But don't get your hopes up. I ain't." Lee said, hugging her two sisters close in a head lock.

The next day, Marie came over to Double D's house to help him set up everything. Double D was in the kitchen looking through his coveted family recipe vault guarded by Uncle Giovanni the priest. Marie was in the dining room putting the leaf in the table and setting up the decore. She walked in to the kitchen to take a breather and see what her boyfriend was up to.

"What ya doin' Oven Mitt?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around him from the back. Double D looked around to acknowledge her.

"Oh, hello. I am in search of my grandmother's spaghetti recipe. It is really good." he said.

"What's in her sauce?" Marie asked as she took a chair and sat down.

"Oh, there is no sauce." He replied.

"NO SAUCE!" Marie exclaimed. "I thought you said we were fixing spaghetti?"

"We are. But you see, Italian prepared spaghetti contains no tomato sauce, known as Ragu de Bolgnase in Italy. See, thin noodles like spaghetti are tossed with olive oil, herbs, and hard cheeses in Italy. Heavy sauces are paired wih open tubes like ziti or macoroni." he said.

"Oh, well, I don't care for the sauce much anyway, it just ends up puddling up on my plate after I am finished." she replied.

"Ah-hah! Got it." he said as he pulled the card out of the safe and closed it and the picture back.

"What are the ingredients?" Marie asked, as it was also written in Italian.

"Let's see... It says 1 bundle of Italian spaghetti, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1 block Parmeseano Regiano, gratted, and 4 basil leaves, shredded."

"Where will we get Italian spaghetti? And whatever Parmeseano Reggiano is?" Marie asked.

"Oh," Double D said as he went up in his step ladder and started ramsacking the cabinet, "I have some Spaghetti Italiani here in the back of the cabinet." he said as he pulled out a bundle of spahetti wrapped up in a cotton bag. He climbed down and placed it on the counter. True enough, on the bag it had printed " Gli Spaghetti Italiani" and under that it said "Realizzato In Italia."

"Wow Double D, where in the world did you get this stuff? It must have cost a fortune." Marie said as her eyes lit up.

"Well, this came from Fr. Espicce. He gave them to us for Christmas. See he has family back in Italy, and his cousins work at a pasta company there. He says they send hundreds of crates every year to help with the parish Mission. He also gives away the left overs as Christmas gifts to the parishoners." he said.

"Oh, so do you have this parme-?" she was cut off by Double D, who had already been to the refrigerator and back with a block of cheese and placed it on the counter.

"Got it." he said.

"So it's cheese?" she asked.

"Oh, not just cheese Marie, this is 100% Parmeseano Reggiano cheese from the Parma region of Italy. It is hand made by the finest cheesemakers of Italy and aged for years." he said.

"So it is just fancy Paresean cheese from Italy?" she said.

"In eshance, yes. But the flavor is unmatched." he said.

"And the olive oil and basil." she said.

Double D reached up in the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Italian olive oil and got a bag of shredded dried basil.

"Alright Marie, I will let you make something while I prepare the spaghetti."

"Oh really, what, what, what?" she asked excitedly as she grabbed an apron and slid it on.

"You can make my family's coveted pane formaggio, that is, cheese bread." he said.

"What does it need?" she asked.

"Well, you will need some of the Italian loafs in the bread box, and you will need to split them in half with a bread knife, it is labeled in the drawer, and take and shred some fresh mozzerella in the refrigerator and grate some romano and parmesean, also labeled, and pour them over the halfed loafs. Then you back them at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Got it?" he asked.

"Sure, got it." she said as she went to work.

After Double D had boiled the spagetti and tossed it with the ingredients, Marie was pulling the bread out of the oven. Both dishes were perfect.

"Okay Marie, take and cut the oven off and put some aluminum foil over the bread to keep it warm. I will keep the spagetti on low while I change into my suit. You brought your dress, didn't you?" he asked her.

"Yeah, it's in the bathroom." she said.

The two went and got dressed in the same clothes they had worn the night of their first date at Marie's trailer. Once they got back, Ed and May walked in with Lee. May had on a purple dress with a white belt and purple hair bow. Ed had on a green blazer and pants with a white dress shrit and green and white stripped tie. Lee had on a white dress with a black belt, and white knee high pantyhose. She looked more beautiful than anyone had ever seen.

"Hey guys, you look fancy." May said as her and Ed gretted them.

"Lee, you look very nice. Eddy cannot possibly resist you." Double D complimented.

"Hubba hubba." Lee replied.

They all started laughing when Eddy walked in the door in a speak-of-the-devil-and-he-shall-appear manner. He had on a white tuxedo with white bow tie. Once he laid eyes on Lee, he fell to the floor to his knees, mouth open, and eye twitching. He could not believe she was dressed so classy. After about a minute, Lee walked up to him. He would have liked to pass out with what he either thought was happiness of nervousness, or a cross of the two.

" Well, get up cutie, you ain't gonna sit there all night are ya?" she asked.

Eddy got up, and was bucking at the knees, in person. In his mind, he was screaming "Oh Mama!" and doing the monkey.

"Lee, you're,...you're,... hot!" he said in his usual slick voice.

"Oh Eddy, you handsome devil, come on." she said as she grabbed his hand. He bucked back at first, but allowed her the pleasure of doing so. The three couples walked into the dining room and sat down. The candles accented the nice china and silverware spread upon the table. Their was an empty bottle of wine on the table. Their were wine goblets placed at all Six seats, filled with water of course. The bowl of spaghetti and bread were placed on the table. In the middle of the table was a beautiful centerpiece, comprising of a large crucifix, and placed at the bottom were a gilded goblet and pieces of unleavened bread, symbolizing the Last Supper.

Double D got up and cleared his throat.

"Okay everyone, it is now time to say the blessing." He said as everyone turned to him and paid attention. "Okay, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." he said as he made the Sign of the Cross. Everyone joined in, for May and Lee caught on real quick. "Alright, now for the prayer," he said as everyone bowed their heads. "Bless us o Lord, and these your gifts which we are about to recieve from your bounty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."

"Amen." everyone said as they started passing around the food and filling up their plates. Everyone started complimenting the food and thanking both Edd and Marie for their labels.

Eddy and Lee acted qutie strange the entie time. While Edd and Marie talked a lot, and May and Ed conversed, Lee and Eddy just stared, as if they could have had a conversation in their head. Each was awkward having to embelish their feelings. Eddy had been suspicious and cautious of his feelings before, and tonight made him take away most doubt, but not all. He knew he liked her, but he didn't know how much. Lee, in some respects, felt the same.

After dinner, everyone went into the family room to chat while Double D and Marie cleaned up. While May and Ed acted romantic and gesturely, Eddy and Lee again just exchaned expressions. Both were dying to say something, but couldn't quite get it up. Finally, Lee spoke up.

"Well, I think I'll go for a walk outside." she said as she got up and headed for the front door. Eddy got up with haste and rushed for her.

"Wait up!" he called out.

Double D and Marie now returned to the family room.

"Where'd they go?" Marie asked.

"Out for a walk." May said in a happy voice.

The four sat and stood there with smiles, happy they had succeded.

Meanwhile outside, Lee was walking slowly as Eddy caught up to her.

"Hey, Lee, you don't half to walk by yourself. You never know what kinda creepy stuff happens out here. Somebody could come up and, and-" he was cut off by Lee.

"What are you tryin' to say?" she asked, as they were now heading out of the cul-de-sac and toward the construction site.

"What I'm tryin'to say is,...is,...is,..." "Spit it out will ya, we ain't got all night!" she said.

"That I don't want anything to happen to ya, okay."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I might have feelin's for ya, okay, and if somethin' happened to ya, and I didn't do somethin' to stop it, I would never get over myself. For years I have been thinkin' that, 'yeah, maybe I like Lee Kanker.' but was afraid what everyone else would think. But know, I just don't care any more. I like ya Lee, I like you alot." he said, as he was shocked all that had come out in one statement.

Lee stood there for a minute, shocked would be putting it lightly. Eddy was scared she would think he went too fast, but then she perked up. She ran up and grabbed Eddy in an embrace and swung him around in the air, obviously due to the height difference.

"Oh Eddy. I like ya too. More than you could ever know." she said.

"Me too, Lee, me too." he said, as she put him back down on the ground.

"Eddy, this is the best night of my life, I feel so great." she said in ecstacy.

"I feel real slick too. I feel alive!" he said.

"Walk me home?" she asked.

"Sure thing, foxy mama." Eddy said as they know where inching closer to the trailer park.

"Oh Eddy, you and your jive talk." she said, gaffawing. She reached to grab his, simultaneously as he was reaching for hers, It was slightly awkward for both, as both hands reached each other at the same time. They both blushed at it, but continued walking. Once they got up to the trailer's front door, Lee grabbed his hands. Again he flinched at first, through his instict, but fought it and grabbed hers as well.

"I had a great night tonight Eddy. I gotta slick little studmuffin at my side now, and ain't nobody gonna change that." she said.

"And I gotta one hot foxy mama at mine." he said, as they leaned in closer. Out of one of the windows in the trailer, the illuminated face of Ms. Kanker watched her daughter Lee. She smiled with a smile she had not done in years.

The two leaned in and pecked each other on the lips. Both slowly pulled away and blushed slightly. Lee pulled back and awkwardly giggled, and Eddy, being the confident fellow he is, slicked his hair back with his hand and let out "Oh, Mama!" Both giggled at it.

"Well Eddy, I guess I will see ya soon. Tomorrow maybe?" she asked.

"Sure thing, I am free all day. Just come on over anytime. This man is too righteous for a schedule." he said, pointing his thumbs back at him.

"I guess that's a date, huh shirmpface?"

"Sure is pukehead."

"Well, see ya then." she said.

"See ya babycakes." he replied.

Lee went back in the trailer and slowly shut the door. Eddy strutted back to the cul-de-sac, feeling like the cool cat he was. And Lee is.

_Wise men say,_

_Only fools rush in_

_But I can't help falling in love with you._

_Shall I stay?_

_Would it be a sin?_

_If I can't help falling in love with you..._

_Like a river flows_

_Surely to the sea_

_Darling so it goes_

_some things are meant to be_

_Take my hand_

_Take my whole life too_

_For I can't help, falling in love with you._


	20. Chapter XX

The two songs used in this chapter:

watch?v=4ZBSGaWrEn4&feature=related

watch?v=QC1Y64AA11Y

Chapter XX

_Don't know why I love you like I do_

_Don't know why I do-o _

_Don't know why I love you_

_Don't know why I care _

_I just want your love to share _

_I wonder why_

_I love you like I do_

_Is it because I think you love me too. _

_I wonder why_

_I love you like I do_

_Like I do-oo-o. _

As soon as Lee shut the door, she immediately turned around and whispered to herself, "He's so dreamy!"

She looked up to see her mother strolling down the steps and down into the living room. Lee quickly stood straight up to face her.

"Where were you at all dressed up tonight?" Ms. Kanker asked.

"Oh, uh,….,um…, thing is,…..uh,…." Lee stuttered out as Ms. Kanker started giggling.

"Don't hurt yourself. I saw that guy outside on the step. Who is he?"

"Oh, uh,… that's Eddy mom. Me and him sorta had a sorta date tonight. He invited me over to his house tomorrow." she said, as she started to badly blush.

"So, is he your boyfriend or what?" she asked, almost in an impatient tone.

"Well, I don't know. I guess so. I mean, me and him really hit it off, and he's a real funny guy and all. I guess you could call him that." Lee said, as she walked over to the couch and took a seat. Ms. Kanker approached her and sat down beside her.

"What do ya mean you guess? Either he's your boyfriend or he isn't. Now which is he Lee?" she demanded.

"Boyfriend, boyfriend!" Lee said in a scared tone.

"Well, ain't that a kick in the head. I guess even my most biligerant and stubborn daughter can find love in this place." she said, with a sigh.

"Yeah, I guess so, May's gotta boyfriend too. His name's Ed too." Lee said, twirling her hair around.

"What the hell is it with all these Ed's around here anyway. They all fall from the same tree or somethin'?"

"He-he, good one mom." Lee said giggling, as she lightly slapped her mom's shoulder.

"Anyway, what I meant to tell ya is, I am going out of town for a couple days to help your grandma out. I don't want you guys here by yourself all that time, so I asked Rod if he would watch y'all while I am gone. Now, you know how hard it is for me to ask him things, after the divorce and all, so I want you girls to be on your best behavior. Now, he works second shift at one place and third shift at another, so he won't be here but 8 hours a day, and he sleeps mostly then. He only works second shift on Tuesdays and Thursdays though. Now, I left all the emergency numbers here, and there should be plenty of food for you to eat. Just make sure the house is clean, and you keep May and Marie straight. I'm leavin' you in charge. Sure you can handle all that?"

"Sure mom, I have done it before, I can keep it straight again." Lee replied, placing her hand on her mother's shoulder. She had never had a conversation with her mom before, and didn't know how to act or really what to say.

"Great. Now, I leave in the morning at 7:00. Rod should get here about 7 or 7:30. You girls should get up early to say good bye to me and all. Well, I better go pack and get some shut eye. When Marie and May get back, be sure to tell 'em, okay?"

"Okay, I will." Lee said, looking up at her mom. Ms. Kanker bent over and kissed her daughter on the forehead and said:

"Oh Lee, I don' t know what I'd do without ya." she then got up off the sofa and went up the stairs to her bedroom.

Lee sat there and watched television for a while, thinking of her conversation. After some time, she heard people come up the driveway and coming through the door. It was Ed, May, Double D, and Marie. They were all talking and laughing when they saw Lee sitting there.

"Oh hey Lee, where's Eddy?" Marie asked.

"Oh, he walked me here then left for home. Listen Marie, May, mom just told me she was going up to Detroit to help out with grammy, She is leavin' in the mornin' and is gonna be gone a couple days. Rod is comin' over to stay with us while she's gone. He'll be here in the mornin' after mom leaves. Now, she's leavin' me in charge of all of ya, so for the next couple days, you listen to me." Lee said with a smile and a domineering voice.

"Alright Lee, you don't have to get so bossy, jezz!" Marie exclaimed.

"Daddy's coming!" May shrieked. "Oh Ed, you have to come meet him tomorrow! He is a real nice guy, come on, come on, come on!" May begged.

"I don't know May, I 'm not that good with parents. Just look at my own." Ed said shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh come on Ed! For me?" May begged again, this time with a puppy dog expression.

"Alright. If Ed's pudding cup would like him to come, Ed will come." he said, holding his index finger up in the air.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you Ed. You are the nicest guy in the world!" she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around his waist in a tight embrace.

"You are welcome, huh." Ed said goofily as he embraced her with a hug back.

"Alright you two love birds, save it for the bedroom like me and Eddy." Lee said in a playful tone to Ed and May. Both backed off and blushed slightly, Ed more so than May.

"Oh, shut up May, you know you were slobberin' all over Eddy when he walked ya home, so don't say nothin'!" May said.

"Oh, I am saving the big kiss for tomorrow when I see him. Surprise 'em a little, ya know." she said.

"What about you Double D, you wanna come see Rod tomorrow? Double D?" Marie asked.

Double D, unbeknownst to Marie up until now, had been staring at her chest. The dress she was wearing more than helpingly displayed her chest size in a knowingly way. Double D had spent the last few moments trying to calculate her bra size. After using a couple geometric formulas and angling the cosine with the radius, determined it to be roughly somewhere in the C range. He shook his head out of the daze he was in when she started addressing him.

"Up here silly, you aren't gonna see my mouth down there!" she said as he blushed, bringing his head back up face level.

"Naw, but his mouth will be down there soon!" Lee cracked as the whole group burst out laughing. She couldn't resist the joke at all. It was practically set up for her. Even Ms. Kanker, who was upstairs packing her suitcase, cracked up at the well played knee-slap shtick her daughter had displayed.

"Ah, that was a good one Lee!" May said, still hysteric, as she high fived her sister.

Double D stood there, laughing, yet still blushing.

"Ah, sorry Double D, didn't mean to embarrass ya like that. But I'll be happy for ya when you do get that far down the line." Lee said as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, back off Lee." Marie said, as the laughter had died down now, "Anyway, so Double D, do you wanna come over here tomorrow with Ed to see my step-dad Rod? He's a great guy."

"Absolutely Marie. I would love nothing more. I am sure he will impress me." Double D responded.

"Well great. Y'all see if you can't get my ole Eddy over here too. We'll make a day out of it." Lee said.

May and Ed embraced and said their goodbyes, as did Marie and Double D.

After the Ed's had left, the three sisters sat on the couch.

"So Marie, I am wonderin', when are you gonna show ole Double D the goods?" Lee asked.

"Oh, when the time comes. Soon probably. I've caught him staring a bunch of times. He practically is reaching out now. But when the time comes, Lee. Only fools rush in, you know." Marie said, giggling.

The irony hit Lee like a ton of bricks.

Meanwhile, Ed and Double D were walking back to the cul-de-sac.

"You wanna know somethin' Double D?"

"What is it Ed?" he responded.

"I feel so much more happy when I'm around May. It's like I can't stop thinkin' about her. Is that normal?"

"Quite so Ed, quite so. It will stay with you forever, no matter where you are. It is the best feeling in the world." he replied.

"Oh, okay. And Double D, thanks for being such a pal to this blockhead." Ed said.

"You are quite welcome Ed. And the same to you."

The two went home and went to sleep, anxious about the next day.

The next day around 8 in the morning, the sun was already warming the day. Ed and Double were already up and dressed in semi casual clothes. Ed had on a blue and white stripped polo shirt with jeans and of course his hair parted. Double D had on a button down plaid shirt and jeans, also with his hair parted in his usual fashion. They both headed over to Eddy's house to see if he wanted to join in.

When Double D opened the door, the lights were all out and only a lamp beside Eddy's bed was on. Eddy sat on the edge of the bed in front of said lamp, appearing to be crying. Double D and Ed turned on the light and ran up to him.

"Eddy, what is the matter?" Double D asked.

"Oh, Double D, it's horrible. It's been 10 hours, and I can't live without her. I have to see her. I can't get her out of my mind. Everytime I close my eyes, Lee is right there lookin' at me. I couldn't get through the night without dreamin' about 'er. I don' know what it is, but I am so sad cause I miss her so. I have to see her again, Double D, or I'm gonna go bananas." Eddy screamed.

_One day I feel so happy_

_Next day I feel so sad _

_I guess I'll learn to take _

_The good with the bad. _

_Cause each night I ask _

_The starts up above, _

'_why must I be a teenager in love?'_


	21. Chapter XXI

Chapter XXI

"Well Eddy, me and Ed are getting ready to go over to their house ourselves to meet Rod, May's father and Lee and Marie's step-father. Lee requested me to ask you if you would care to join." Double D said.

"Really? Why didn't ya say so! Let's go boys, we got people to meet and places to go!" Eddy yelled as jumped of the bed and ran for the door. Double D and Ed soon caught to him.

"And awaaay we go!" Eddy said as the boys hurried off to the trailer park.

Earlier that morning, at the trailer park, in the Kanker manor, Lee, Marie, and May had made sure to awaken early that day. Ms. Kanker was still upstairs getting ready. It was a quite morning. Not many words had been exchanged between the sisters. Lee was still in the bathroom showering. Marie was sitting on the couch, and May was sitting on the front step leading into the trailer, waiting for Rod to show up. After roughly 15 minutes of waiting, May could see a car approaching up out of the horizion. It was an old 1975 Buick Park Avenue with a brown paint job and beautiful interior. Inside it was a man in a police cap and typical night guard attire. Once the car pulled in and engaged the always unique grinding sound of the parking brake, May went estatic and ran up the car chanting "Daddy, Daddy!" over and over again. Out of the car stepped a middle aged man in the aforementioned night guard attire. He had on the cap, blue jacket, white shirt and blue tie, the badge proudly displayed on both jacket and shirt. on his belt he held a Colt .45 ACP handgun with two magazines of ammunition, a tazer, pepper spray, tiny Mag-Lite flashlight, handcuffs, and all the other police accesories on the belt that could rival Batman. He was tall, about 6'3", and under his hat was thick blonde hair. His face was shaven and pale, and he was quite youthful in apperance, despite his age.

"Hey princess!" he said as he hugged her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "So good to see ya! How've you been?"

"Oh, as usual. Having to put up with Lee and Marie. We've all got boyfriends now dad, isn't that great!" May shrieked in a very excited voice, anxious to hear his answer.

"Wow, well isn't that something! I knew is was bound to happen one day. You keep gettin' so old. All threee of ya. I just hope these guys treat ya right and everything, or they'll have to answer to me. And believe me, they'll hope they never have to." he said with a grin.

"Oh, they are all really kind and they are real gentlemen. They're comin' over today to see you. They are real excited to meet you." she said as she gripped his hand.

"Well, alright. I am anxious to see 'em. Now, where's your mom? We gotta get goin' pretty soon. Her plane is gonna leave anytime." he said.

"Oh, she's inside getting everything ready, I'll got get her." May replied as both her and Rod went inside the trailer. Lee had now joined Marie on the couch, and they both stood up as the two entered. May shot up the stair to get her mother, and Rod attempted to make small talk with the other two girls.

"So, Lee, Marie, May's been tellin' me that you all have boyfriends now too, huh?" he asked as they looked at him.

"Yeah, they're the Eds. It's funny, cause they all have first names with 'Ed' in it. Isn't that funny?" Marie said.

"Sure is. Eds huh. Well, I can't wait to meet 'em. They sound like swell guys and all. So, have you girls been doin' all right, helping your mom out and everything?"

"Yeah, we do a lot around here. she works all the time it seems like. So how have you been doin'" Lee asked, turning the conversation on Rod.

"Oh, here is here, same is same. Work, home, work, home. Giving hobos money for beer and lottery tickets at the store I work at, or, as I like to call it, 'winning of hearts and minds.'" he said, as they all started giggling.

"Yeah, same crap, different day, huh?" Lee said.

"That's about what it amounts to, but other than that, I don't really do much more. I gotta drive your mom over to the airport so she can catch her plane. Then when I come back we'll have 4 days together."

Just as he was finishing his statement, May was coming down the stairs with Ms. Kanker. She had a couple of hand-held suitcases in her hands, and May was dragging the suitcase on wheels.

"Hey Barbara, let me get those things for you, you don't need to carry that." he said as he walked over and grabbed the suitcases out her hands, and got the one May had. May joined her sisters as Ms. Kanker had gone up to them and gave them each a good bye and kiss.

When she got to Lee, she gave her a reminder, "Now Lee, remember, I am trusting you. Don't do anything wrong, and stay safe. And keep Rod straight, ya hear?"

"It's alright mom, I've got it."

"Very well then, I'm gone, see you guys Sunday."

"Bye Mom." the three said in unison.

"Alright girls, I'll be back as quick as I can, so don't burn the house down." Rod said as he and Ms. Kanker walked out the door.

Rod put the things in the trunk next to his own suitcases he had brought and opened and held the door open for Ms. Kanker. He went around and got in the drivers seat and fastened his seat belt.

"I can't believe you still have this old jaloopie!" she exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, I couldn't get rid of her if I tried." he said as he put the car in reverse and pulled out of the trailer park and onto the road. "This thing has gotten me around since the 80s. She still runs like the day I got her. I've put a lot of money into this car, ya know. It was a piece of junk when I bought back in 85. I redid the interior, had the engine repaired, and put a paint job on it. Me and this thing have been through a lot together, and we're still going strong." he said as he now pulled onto the highway bound for the airport.

"Yeah, you always loved this stupid car more than you loved me." Ms. Kanker said as she looked down at the floorboard. Rod let out a slight groan and continued down the highway.

"You know, it wasn't easy for me either. In fact, I got the shit end of the stick on the whole deal anyway. You had a new boyfriend just about every night. I'd be out working, trying to pave a way for the family, and you were out floozin' it up at every bar in town. And you didn't even try to hide the traces of all your little boyfriends. Hell, you bragged about 'em. How do you think that made me feel, huh? I didn't ask for it. At one point I actually did think we had some kind of love. But it just went away over the years. But you didn't even try." he said.

"Yeah, well it wasn't easy for me either ya know. I loved Butch so much, and then after he was gone I didn't think I would ever find another one like him. I mean, I got all caught up in the moment, and got used to the whole night life and everything. My heart was broken, and I was willing to fill it with anybody. I guarentee you that 90% of those guys I slept with don't even know who I am. I mean, after that damn Bubba got me pregnant, and ditched me, and felt abandoned and abused. I didn't know where else to turn. I mean, sure, mom and dad helped out a hell of a lot, but I could even picture myself going into the welfare line before. But I found myself sitting next to all those fat black women every week, asking for stuff just so my kids could have something. Do you know how embarrasing that is? I grew up in a beauiful home and always had better things than anybody. To end up begging in the streets for money. Going to every Catholic Mission in Detroit, begging every priest I saw for just a dollar or something. It really got to me. I felt sub-human. I felt lower than I should have been. I didn't care about myself anymore. I only cared about the kids." she said, on the verge of tears.

"Yeah, all that drinkin' and partying, that was 'caring for the kids.' I believe you're playing the victim a little too far sometimes." he said.

"Well, you just don't know how it was. I had to escape it all someway. I had to have something to get my mind off it all. I figured then that drinking would solve all my problems, and I felt like sleeping with a different guy everynight would fill up the love I wasn't getting. I didn't realize until I met you that none of that was working. You changed me Rodney, you turned my life around. You were the first nice guy to look past my situation and offer a helping hand. Nobody since Butch had shown me that compassion. You actually cared. You didn't wanna see me and my kids go without food or a home. You didn't just want me for sex or money, you wanted to help me. You cared."

"Yeah, well, I did care. You told me about Lee and Marie and everything, I couldn't see ya going through all that. I had too much of a conscience to let ya go through that anymore. I didn't know if it was love or not back then. I just didn't know. But I knew it was sypmathy. I felt bad for your situation. No person should have to walk to the store at 10 PM to do anything. Believe me, I've seen many a different character at that store. I'd seen drug dealers, hobos, hookers, and everything in between. Sure, I helped lots of people there. People that wanted a beer or a scratch ticket. But they didn't need help. They were just bums looking to fuel their addictions. But you, you were different. You were the first person I had seen that looked like you actually needed help."

"Well, you really did help. In fact, I think we would have been on the streets if not for you. You saved our lives. Then I felt like I was falling in love. And I had to have you."

"Yeah, I fell in love too. There was something about you. I mean, you were the first person that liked me for me. People have been walkin' all over me my whole life. That's the problem when you're nice to everybody: everybody uses you. People have never cared about me. They have only taken advantage of me. Then you came along, and well, changed it all. I had to marry ya Barbara. I had to be there."

"Then May came along, an I didn't feel the love anymore." she said in a meloncholy voice.

"Of course you didn't, you started running out again right after she was born. Everynight. It was even worse on the weekends. Between workin' all the time to suppot the family, and tryin' to take care of the kids, raise 'em up right. I remember catchin' ya all the time in bed with men. I shoulda asked for a divorce then, but I didn't. I was thinking of the kids. They came first. That was more than you could say."

"Oh yeah, more than I could say? I tried as hard as I could. You don't know all the suffering I went through!"

"Suffering? Yeah, you were suffering all right. You don't know how much I worried where you were every night. The girls would ask me every day, 'Where's mommy at?' What was I supposed to tell 'em Barbara, 'Don't worry Lee, your mommy's out blowin' every guy in town.'? What was I supposed to tell em. If ya ask me I was sufferin' a lot more than you. The only reason I stayed with ya as long as I did was because of the kids. I knew if I left they would starve in the streets. I've seen it too many times, kids with no father figure. It's too damn common today. I didn't want that to happen to them. They needed an authority figure."

"Then why did you leave when you did? Did you stop caring about them too?"

"I didn't wanna leave, but I had too. I couldn't deal with your drunken nights anymore. It got to me. You were forcin' me out of the marriage. There wasn't room for me anymore. All ya wanted was someone to keep the kids off ya hands. You didn't want me, I started to think ya never did." Rod said as he started to tear up, and pulled a hankercheif out of his pocket and dabbed his eyes with it. "I had to get out. I couldn't take it anymore. I did what I thought was the right thing to do."

"Well, I just did what I thought was best for the kids with the divorce. Then you had to go and turn it into a Krammer vs. Krammer situation." she said.

"What was best for the kids? What the hell is that Barbara? Have you seen how they live back there? That trailer is hell on earth. You and them shouldn't have to live like that. You guys have fought too hard and delt with too much to have to live in that place. You all deserve better. You always have."

"What are you saying Rodney?"

"I don't know what I'm sayin'. But all I know is now that the girls have gotten those boyfriends they have, I have never seen 'em happier. Each one of 'em. It's like they're differnt people. They've found hope. These boys, these Eds, give 'em somethin' that they haven't had in a while, someone to be there for 'em no matter what. Now, I know you try, but kids don't see parents as someone who cares. You and I both know that. They've finally found someone who cares about them for them. Figuring their circumstances, I never thought that would happen. Girls who grow up in that situation usually don't fare out so well. The predictions ain't ever that good. I've seen it happen with many people before. That is why I want you to make sure that those girls stay with those boys forever. They may never get a chance to have true love again. They should keep it with 'em forever. Cause if they don't, it ain't gonna be pretty. You know that as much as I do."

"They have been rather happy with those Eds, haven't they. I saw little Lee on the front step with her Ed last night, and let me tell you Rodney, I have never seen her so alive and carefree. She actually acted like a teenage girl. She has all that responisbility, ya know, she doesn't feel like she should act like a teenage girl. But these boys, especially Marie's guy, just make them feel so special. I really like him. He treats Marie like you wouldn't believe. He is one the the biggest gentlemen I have ever seen."

"Oh yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah, he practially worships the ground she walks on. She can't stop talking about him. She even dyed her hair back to brunette and started acting better and dressing better. He turned her around in a major way. I've never seen her act like a lady. I think somehow her and Edd were meant to be. Like out of a fairy tale or somethin'.

"May told me that they were comin' over to meet me today. I can't wait to meet 'em, after hearing all this good stuff about 'em. They sure do make the girls happy, and that makes me happy." he said as he turned the car into the parking lot of the airport. He pulled up and around the circle in front of the building. He put the old car in park and popped the trunk. After he got out, he grabbed her things and opened her door for her. Ms. Kanker stepped out and grabbed her things.

"Thanks so much for everything Rodney. You really care about those girls, and I couldn't find another guy that would do want you do for them. I know that talk we had and everything was strong, but some things need to come out. I've had it bottled up inside for years, and haven't ever got the chance to get it out. But now that it's out, I feel so much better. I have taken advantage of your kindness over the years so much, especially back then. I did some horrible things, and, I don't know if you can forgive me, but I am so sorry for all the hurt I've done over the years. I guess I didn't know a good thing when I saw it, and threw it all away."

"Well, nobodies perfect. And I will forgive you for anything. The girls come first. I know we had a rocky marriage, but I always cared about ya. I can't forgive myself, seein' you guys live in that hellhole over there, it just breaks my heart, Barbara. I hate to see you guys livin' like you do. That is why I help out so much. It is the least I can do."

"I just don't know how things could ever be the same between us." she said, looking down at the pavement.

"Never say never." Rod said, with a mile-wide schoolboy smile over his face.

Ms. Kanker grabbed Rod in a semi-embrace hug. He hugged her back even tighter.

"I'll see you when I get back Rod. And take care of those kids. Don't let anything happen." she said into his ear.

"Oh, I would never." he said as the let go of each other, almost embarrased, being that they hadn't hugged in 6 years. "Call me when ya get back, so I can come pick you up."

"Okay, good bye." she said waving.

"See ya Barbie." Rod said as he got back in the car and shut the door, fastening his seat belt. He waved back and pulled out of the parking lot.

Ms. Kanker didn't catch it at first, but soon realized after a few minutes, he called her "Barbie." He hadn't called her that since they started going together. She began to wonder.


	22. Chapter XXII

Chapter XXII

The whole time while Ms. Kanker and Rod were going to the airport, the Eds had been en route to the Kanker trailer.

"So Double D, what do ya know about this Rod guy? Is he cool?" Eddy asked as the three were entering the construction site.

"Well Eddy, I know that he is a security guard at a convenience store in town, and that he was married to Ms. Kanker for 8 years. Other than that, I can't really tell you much more." Double D replied.

"So, he's a rent-a-cop? Perfect, just what I need, a girlfriend who's dad's a cop." Eddy scoffed.

"Well, he's not that bad Eddy. I have heard he is a fairly lax person once you get to know him."

"Yeah, sure." Eddy replied as the began entering the trailer park. Once they started coming up, May could spot them, for she again was sitting on the front stoop, the typical stoop kid that she was. She perked up when she saw them and got up and leaned in the door and called to the two sisters in the living room, "Our boyfriends are here." and for once, she was actually being factual in the use of the word "boyfriend." It wasn't just a misnomer anymore. It was prime nomenclature at its finest.

"Hey Marie, the Eds are here." Lee cast out to Marie, who was sitting next to her on the sofa.

"I know Lee, I'm not deaf like you!" Marie said as the two got up and race to the door. The three sisters stood on the stoop, waiting for the calvary to arrive.

"Boyfriends hoo!" Lee called out as the Eds were just approaching the trailer. Each Kanker raced and embraced their Ed. Eddy, still not completely used to it, again flinced as Lee embraced him, but embraced her back.

"Listen up Eddy, hows about, after Rod is done talkin' to ya, we swing back to your place, for, ya know, a little more, private time?" Lee asked as she leaned into his ear and spoke softly.

"Don't you know it, baby!" Eddy exclaimed, causing Lee to chuckle slightly.

"so Double D, you ready to see Rod?" Marie asked after her and Double D had finished their embrace.

"Oh, as ready as I'll ever be, I suppose. After hearing all these things about him, it would be wonderful to put a personalty to a story." Double D said.

"I just know you'll like him cutie. He's real smart in a goofy way too, like you." Marie replied.

"Oh, Marie." Double D claimed as he embraced Marie yet again.

"What about you Big Ed, are you ready?" May asked as she grabbed Ed's hands and started to swing them around.

"This blockhead is as ready as Slug-u-la in a muccus storm!" Ed said in his typical goofy voice.

"Oh Ed, you're so silly." May said as she laid her head to Ed's chest. He flinched at first, but then started to stroke her hair.

"Okay people, what are we waitn' for, let's get inside, it looks like it could rain any minute." Lee said. The Kankers and the Eds piled into the trailer and gathered around in the living room. Lee had not been lying, the sky was a silvery gray and rain was in the forecast for that entire day.

"Can we get you boys anything?" Marie asked as the three Eds took their places on the couch.

"A liquid refreshment would not be out of the question." Double D said as he got comfortable on the sofa.

"Okay cutie, we'll be right back." Marie said as the three disappeared into the kitchen.

"Girls, I don't think this day could get more perfect. I have a feein' this is the beginnin' of a bee-utiful relationship for all of us. I've never felt so happy in my life. Ohh." Lee rejoyced as she grabbed some cups out of the cupboard.

"Yeah, I feel like I'm in heaven when I'm with Double D, he really knows how to treat a lady right." Marie chimed in as she grabbed a pitcher of powdered milk from the refrigerator.

"And Ed is so goofy and funny. He always makes me laugh." May said, as she stood waiting for the other two.

"The Eds." the three said in a dreamy unison as they walked back into the living room and back to their boyfriends.

"Alright boys, we got refreshments!" Eddy claimed as the girls handed them their drinks. The three Eds all took a couple sips and sat their drinks down.

"Anything else?" Marie asked.

"Nope, we're good." Eddy said, relaxing back in the couch.

"Ah, icy cold." Ed said in a refreshed voice.

"Okay boys, Rod should be here any minute." Lee said as the three girls pulled some chairs out of the kitchen and into the living room. Lee pulled her chair next to Eddy and sat sideways in it. May put her chair infront of Ed and sat in it normally with her hands supporting her head. Marie of course sat next to Double D, backwards in the chair with her arms crossed on the back of the chair, smiling at her boyfriend. Just as they all settled, they heard the crunching sound of gravel as the old Park Avenue pulled in front of the trailer and engaged the parking break.

"He's here!" the girls cried out as the ran to the door and held it open for him. The three boys stood up and faced toward the door, making final-minute adjustments to their appearence before he walked in.

"Woopdie-do, whoopdie-do!" Rod said as he came through the door with a couple suitcases in his hand. He sat them down on the floor as the door closed behind him. He greated each of the girls then turned toward the Eds.

"Hello boys, I am Rodney. But you can call me Rod, everyone else does." he said in a cheerful voice. This eased the nervousness of the boys greatly.

"Hello." they said in unison.

"Well, I'll just let the girls introduce you then, huh." he said as Lee ran over and grabbed Eddy's hand and stood there beaming. He walked up to them first.

"Rod, this is my boyfriend, Eddy McGee." she said in an excited voice.

"Well, how do you do Eddy?" Rod asked as he stuck his hand out for a shake. Eddy returned the favor.

"Oh, well, I am doing quite fine. And yourself?" Eddy returned the question.

"Oh, I am doing pretty well I guess. Something about you tells me 'cool cat' Eddy. You remind me a lot of me when I was young. I had the blond pompador, lesuire suit, and everything. I was a cool cat too." Rod said.

"Well, that is outta sight Rod. I am the cool mack daddy of Peach Creek. Been keepin' the fridge cold since 1999." Eddy said with a cheesy grin.

"I can dig it." Rod replied. "Well, nice to finally meet you Eddy, you're a cool guy." he said as he now moved down the line to see May and Ed. May had her arm around Ed's shoulder, as best she could. But since the height distance was so great, it mostly went around his back.

"Now who is this tall guy?" Rod asked in a joking way.

"Dad, this is my boyfriend Ed. But everyone calls him Big Ed." May said, squeezing Ed close to her side.

"I can see why, someone's been eating their vegetables, huh? Don't worry Ed, I've been no stranger to tallness myself. When I was your age I was already 5'11". You'll be just fine." Rod said as he also put his hand out to shake Ed's. Ed, of course, shook his back.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Rod." Ed said in a serious tone.

"Same to you Ed. It's a pleasure to have you as my daughter's boyfriend. Just make me proud." he said. He then leaned into May's ear and whispered "You picked a good one." He returned back and May giggled a little. He then moved to the last couple, Marie and Double D. Marie had her arm interlocked with Double D's. She stood there smililing ear to ear, waiting to introduce her Ed.

"Ah, his must be Marie's boyfriend?" Rod asked.

"Rod, this is my boyfriend, Edd. That's spelled with two d's. Everyone calls him Double D." she said, squeezing him closer to her side as well.

"Spelled with two D's, how come?" Rod asked him.

"Well sir, name indead contains two d's because my Italian name, Edduardo, is spelled with two. My family gave me the nickname 'Double D' becasue of it. Therefore it is a name that stuck with me." he said.

"Italian huh? You're not in the Mob, are ya?" rod asked in a teasing way.

Double D just stood there, not knowing what to say or do.

"Oh, I'm just playing. Nice to meet ya Double D." he said, sticking his hand out. Double D shook his hand with a firm grip in a man-to-man way.

"Well now, that is what I call a handshake!" Rod exclaimed, "now boys, grab a seat or take a seat, just don't steal a seat." he said, laughing at his own joke. The six returned to their positions they were in before he came and Rod grabbed a seat and faced toward the boys.

"Now boys, I am sure you know about me, but I'll give you a little story. My name is Rodney Van Wilmer. I am May's father and Lee and Marie's step-father. I was married to their mother for eight years. I am from Detroit too, and moved down here after the divorce, and work at the Peach Branch Mini Mart downtown as a night guard. I am open to any questions you might have for me." He said, turning toward the boys. Double D spoke first.

"'Van Wilmer, that is Dutch also, is it not?" he asked.

"Why yes it is. Interesting you pointed that out. You must be pretty smart Double D. Anyway, yeah, the name is Dutch. Pretty neat, but my grandparents came over from the Netherlands just like their mom's did. They came over to escape the Nazi's too. They settled in Detroit, and well, the rest is history. Now, any more questions?"

"Yeah," Eddy said, "why did you two get divorced?"

The girls all turned to Rod and looked with concern, almost begging him with their eyes to pass over the question. He looked at them with his eyes telling them 'Don't worry, I've got it.' with his expression. They were slightly reassured.

"Well boys. It is a fairly interesting story, but probably a little too mature for you and a little too difficult to talk about. But let's just say that, well, things got really complicated between us. We argueed all the time, yelled at each other, words were exchanged. Ah, well,..um, well, we both decided as concenting adults that it would be best for everybody if we just decided to split up. We seperated at first, so she could sorta find a way to make it on her own, then we finally divorced. Divorce is never easy kids, and I hope you never have to experience it. Even thought there is a 'winner' after the settlement, nobody ever wins in a divorce. I mean, it is just difficult for everybody to adjust and all. I mean, when love dies it's the worst feeling in the world. It does get to you after awhile.

"So you don't love their mom anymore?" Eddy asked again. Lee looked at him as if to say 'Please be quiet!'

"It's alright Lee. Well Eddy, I wouldn't say that. I don't think love ever truely goes away. I mean, I still care about her, and I am sure she still cares about me, but we just can't live as a couple anymore. I least for a while we couldn't. It's tuff to make up after all that happened between us. There isn't really enough 'I'm sorries' to take away the hurt. Sure you can forgive, but it's forgettin' that's the hard part. When your bad times outweight your good, you tend to only remember the bad. It's not easy to describe. And it's hard to talk about. It's not just somethin' you get over. It takes on a deeper meaning. I mean, when you get married and take that vow 'till death do us part', you take that into full view. But if you have to question that, it really makes you wonder. I wouldn't think about it too much kids, you're too young to fully understand. And I hope never have to understand what a broken heart is. I mean, you all have got the best three girls in the whole world. Don't ever let 'em go. Cause if you do, you'll be makin' a mistake. I just hope you guys know that you all belong together. In more ways than you'll ever know."

"Appreciate it and don't let it go, because you don't know what you got until you lose it. Don't lose it, please, don't lose it." Rod said, and then looked down toward the ground, hearing his own conscience pound in his head 'Well, why did you!"

Those words had plauged him ever since the divorce.


	23. Chapter XXIII

Song at the end of this chapter:

watch?v=Mizp00mi0YU

Chapter XXIII

"So boys, you guys all live around here?" Rod asked, trying to change the conversation around.

"Yes sir, we do indeed. We all live in the cul-de-sac not too far from here." Double D replied.

"Ah, I see. Is it a nice neighborhood?" he asked.

"Well, they are fairly decent people that live there. Mostly kids like us." Double D replied again.

"Hmmm, well, they have nice houses there? Are they nice."

"They're pretty nice, I guess." Eddy said.

"Okay. Well boys, you seem like such an odd troupe. Each of ya are so, so different. Each of ya are unique. It's really somethin'. The way most kids act these days, ya know. Pants down to their knees, weird lookin' shirts, hats, all that crap. Blastin' that damn rap music all the time. Gets on my nerves bad. That is one of the reasons I left Detroit. Detroit, now that's city. The capital of debauchary. The epitome of criminal activity. Just to think, it used to be one of the best cities in the United States, now, puh, now I would say if Hell could claim a city in the US, it would be there. My God I hate that city. Just imagine what it's like to be a cop there, Not pretty."

"I thought you were a night guard?" Eddy asked.

"Oh I am, but I pulled some time as a rookie cop on the Detroit PD. Actually, my lieutenant was Butch Leary, Lee's dad. Man, that was one heck of a force. We had all the best guys. It was really somethin'. But in the late 80s, the gangs started to get outta hand. President Ronald Reagan himself came and told us to take out the gangs. God, I miss voting for that man. Anyway, we did a lot of drug busts and what not. It wasn't really a big deal. Happened every day. Bank hold-ups, shootouts, all that was commonplace. Kids' stuff. Hell, I did a drug bust just about every day. I can remember, every mornin', we'd get a call that a TV was bein' jacked downtown. Every freakin' morning. Same damn store too. I'd go in with my rookie, and the store owner would be raisn' some hell. Another brick through the window, another Magnavox stolen. Sometimes it'd be VCRs too. See VCRs were the big thing then. Hell, I can remember getting calls about Beta tapes gettin' stole. Just shows my age. Anyway, I'd tell the owner there was nothin' we could do. That these things happen all the time, and nine times outta ten we're never gonna be able to find the crook. They get off back to their apartment, bust the TV up with a hammer, jerk all the platinum out of it, and take off and sell it to any pawn shop in town. It's really somethin'. I loved bein' a cop. Bringin' the law to order is somethin' I miss more than anything. I guess that's why I stay as a night guard. Couldn't give it up. Loved it too damn much."

"So, why'd ya quit?" Eddy asked.

"Well, it was pretty complicated. In 1991, the whole Rodney King thing happened."

"Who's Rodney King?" Eddy asked.

"Well Eddy, Rodney King was a black man who, in 1991, led the police into a very dangerous high speed car chase in the middle of the night. Once the police caught him, the beat him badly and he nearly died. After the tape of the beating went public, there were many riots by the black community that left many dead and much more ruined. To this day it is still a touchy subject." Double D answered.

"He's right," Rod said, pointing at Double D, "Anyway, he's right. We had to deal with all kinds of rights. Half the city of Detroit was destroyed because of it. And many of us were attacked by the black people in the city. I got beat up a couple times. We didn't even like to go out in the public anymore. Basically, my name's Mud just because what a couple cops on the other side of the country did. It really got me pissed. But that wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back. Oh no, it was what happened to Butch."

"What a sec, you were there when Butch got-" Marie started.

"That's right Marie. I was there and saw the whole thing. But you all don't know the whole story. The COP only told your mom half the story until they put the gang punks in jail for good, to protect your mom. See, if they had told her everything, she would have told other people, and some people that the gang knew might find out, and they would have hurt your mom. but I know the whole story."

"What is it, I wanna know what really happened to dad." Lee said.

"Alright. Well, it was a cold night in early December of 1995. For months, we had been tracking this gang house. We estimated that at least $400,000 worth of crack cocaine flowed through this house a day. A day! Anyway, we had been preparing for this raid for weeks. We had SWAT behind us, and we had mapped the whole area around the house, entrance points, barriers, barricades, etc. Nobody was gettin' out of this one. Anyway, that morning, all of us were excited. The police department was buzzing with excitement. We thought this whole thing was gonna be a piece of cake. I was only a sergeant, so I had priority, but not really any say-so over anything. I remember gettin' my coffee that morning. Butch was standing in the corner of the break room, going on about how much hazzard pay we would get for it. Typical goofy Butch. But the DPD is big. And I mean BIG. So many people were crowded around him. Anyway, that day went by just like any other. Normal routes. Since I was one of the 20 cops that were gonna be doin' it, me and my rookie both were excited about seeing some real action. Butch was in charge of the whole operation. He only picked the best of the best cops, and I was one of 'em. I was proud as hell of that. Later that night, around 7 o'clock, we loaded our cars up with extra equipment. We all carried extra bullets. We all piled in our cars and headed over to the house. SWAT had two trucks behind us. We had two helicopters in the air. It was somethin' I'd never seen before. I could tell this was serious. Well, when we got there, there were about 4 or 5 Cadillacs parked around the house. See, it sat on a corner, so we pulled up and surrounded the place. I mean, the cop cars were bumper to bumper. SWAT parked and poured out their men. The chopers started circlin' the place with their spot lights on, ya know. All the neighbors started comin' out into their yards to see what was goin' on. Apparently most of 'em had connections to the drug guys inside the house. Anyway, most of us hopped out of our cars and stood tthere. A lot of the guys were trying to calm down the bystanders. I was standing near the picket fence going around the house, with my rookie behind me. Well, Butch got out of his car and pulled his loudspeaker out and spoke into it and said, 'Come out with your hands where we can see 'em and drop all weapons in your possesions on the deck at your feet. We know what is going on in there and we are here to arrest all perpertraitors responsible. Come out now!' After a few minutes, he spoke into it again, 'This is Lt. Richard Leary, Detroit Polic Department speaking, come out with you hands up and nobody gets hurt.'Once he said that, several black guys stepped out onto the porch. Most of them had AK-47s. The leader pulled out his and fired several shots into the air. Butch yelled 'hit the deck!' and we all hit the ground. The black guy talked a bunch of crap that I don't want to repeat. We all equiped our guns. I pulled out my .357 Magnum and loaded a speed clip into it. I got behind my car's trunk with my rookie and aimed my gun at them. Butch pulled his out and stepped a little closer to the fence, never taking his gun off of them. His posture was so serious and detaild. His feet were the only thing moving. He spoke in a loud voice and said 'Put the guns down now, or we will fire!' The guy refused and Butch attempted to fire at his feet, but the pistol jammed. Butch tried a couple more times, but it still wouldn't fire. The black guy called him a couple more names, then it happend." Rod said, lowering his head and speaking in a grave voice.

"What?" Eddy asked, as they had all been swept into the story.

"well,..." he said, breathing out heavily through his nose, "the black guy raised his rifle up and fired off a shot. It hit Butch in the neck, and cut right through his jugular vein." Rod started shaking and he put his hand to his head. "His,...,his um,...,well,...uh, vein opened up and, well,...blood started, uh,...pouring out everywhere. He collapsed to the ground, and,...and the black bastard had the nerve to start laughing. He laughed! I got up and fired my .357 at him four times. I hit him three times in the stomach, and once in the chest. The other guys standing on the porch went running as all the other cops started firing their pistols. shots started pouring out the windows of the house and a couple other men got hit. After, well, about 15 minutes, SWAT finally went in and got them all. We called in a bunch of ambulances. It was the one time when us and the fire crews got along. Anyway Lee, they pulled your dad in the back of the ambulance. Nobody knew what to do. We were all scrambling. It was the middle of the night, 7 inches of snow on the ground. 10 degrees outside. Paul, the COP, came up to me and said, 'listen Rod, that was one helluva brave thing ya did. I am proud son. But listen, we need you to call Butch's wife. If anybody needs to know, it's her.' He handed me the number, and I went up to the payphone on that street and dialed the number. Your mom answered and I told her everything."

"Oh my God, you were the one that told her-" Lee started. All of them were looking on in shock.

"That's right." He replied as he let out a sigh. "I remember, about 30 minutes later, a women came up driving an old Chevrolette Camero. She stepped out, and was the most beauiful women I had ever seen. She had shoulder length brunette hair and the most pretty face. She looked just like you, Marie. She was sobbing horribly, as she ran up and tried to get through the police tape. The rookies there wouldn't let her through, but I came over and told them the situation. She found out he was dead, and cried miserably. It was a terrible time. The funeral was dark and depressing. The whole force didn't feel happiness ever again I don't think. Weeks went by, and Christmas was almost nothing. The COP gave me the chance to take over Butch's place as second in command. But I turned it down, and quit the force that afternoon."

"Why on Earth did you do that?" Eddy demanded, "you coulda had power, and more money!"

"Well Eddy, money isn't everything. The COP was as surprised as you. I told him that I didn't want the title and that it was too much danger, not to mention emotion, for me to take. He understood, and let me go. He was such a nice guy about it. He even lined me up with the security guard job. Even he resigned from the force, the force he had been on for 35 years, after they only let the criminals off with 5 years in prison. And they even let 'em out early on good behavior. It was really somethin'. I got so digusted with it. When I moved here, the Peach Creek PD even offered me a job, but I turned it down too. I just can't go back to it. The memories haunt me too much." Rod said as he put his forehead in his hand and looked at the ground.

"So, that's how you met their mom?" Eddy asked.

"Well, in a way, that is how we first met. I didn't see her anymore after the funeral. It was so hard for her. She sold the house and moved in with her mom and dad next door. But I didn't actually get to know her until 2 years later in 1997. I was working as a night guard at a local convenince store in downtown Detroit. One night, it was probably around 10 PM. I saw a woman walking up the road. It had to be about 15 degrees that night. All she had on was a trechcoat and a sock hat. She looked so worried, so scared. I didn't recognize her at first. She looked so much different. She didn't recognize me either. I told her hello and let her go back into the store when she came out she had a gallon of milk. I noticed she was shivering, and looked as I said, very worried. I walked up to her and asked what was wrong. She told me how she didn't have any electricity at her apartment, becasue she couldn't pay the bill. She told me that she had two little daughters and couldn't afford anything but milk and cereal for them to eat. I offered to pay her light bill so she could stay warm with her kids in the cold. She refused, kindly, but I insisted that no one deserved to freeze in the winter time. She took me back to her place and told me about everything, including Butch. I told her about the time we met and everything. The next day I went and paid up all her bills and offered her to come live in the apartment next to mine, and get out of that crumy one she was in at the time. I paid the rent on it, and watched the kids in the mornings while she went to work. After a while we started dating, then, after four months of going together, we got married and had Lee. We moved back into the house next to here parents and lived a nice life for a couple years. Then things started to get out of hand, the fights, and everything. Well, anyway, when the girls were in elementary school, we legally seperated. We were still married, but didn't live together. Then after about a year of that, we took and divorced. The state got her a really good lawyer and it was a long court battle. It made the situation a lot worse. Well, after the divorce, she couldn't make it on her own, and of course she refused my help. Her parents helped her a little, but she felt too ashamed to live with them again. So she did some searching, and found this little town here in Ohio. She found another sewing jobs here and found this trailer park. I told her that I would let her come back and live with me, but she refused. I begged her not to move into the trailer, and told her I would forgive everthing to get back together. She again refused. Anyway, I felt bad for the kids, living here. So I found a nice apartment and night guard job and moved here myself, to help out with the kids. Believe me, it hasn't been an easy ride for any of us. Pretty up and down if you ask me. I don't know how we got through it all to tell the truth. But we did, as we try as hard as we can to put our differences aside for the greater good of the kids." Rod said. "They come before everything." he said as he looked down at the three girls, and they exchanged smiles.

"So boys, I hope I haven't bored you too much with all the details. But I guess that's the way it goes. Hey Lee, what time is it?" he asked.

Lee turned around to look at the VCR and just saw a flashing "12:00" over and over again. "I can never figure those things out!" she said in her mind. She then looked to the clock in the kitchen and saw it was 1:00 in the after noon.

"Hey Rod, it's almost 1." she said.

"Almost one, well, I better be heading off. I have to be at work early today. Well gentelmen, it has been an exteme pleasure to meet you, and I hope to see you some more over the next four days." Rod said as he got up and shook each of the boys' hands and went over to the girls.

"I'll be back tonight." he said, hugging each one of them, "So don't burn the house down. And don't do anything I wouldn't. I know you damn teenagers. Always horney as the devil himself." Rod said as he chuckeld aloud. All the kids turned red as a beet.

"I'm kiddn', I'm kiddin!" he said to reassure them.

"Bye dad." May said.

"Bye Rod." Lee and Marie said.

"See ya girls." he replied.

"Farewell Mr. Van Wilmer, and I hope have most enjoyed our company today." Double D said as he waved.

"Yeah, what he said, goes for me too." Eddy chimed in.

"And me five!" Ed said.

"He-he-he," Rod chuckled as he opened the door and headed out, "you guys are too much. See ya." he said, going out.

"Bye." they all said in unison as we closed the door behind him. Rod straightened his hat, took off his jacket, revealing his short sleeve shirt. He hoped in the car and drove off. As soon as the kids heard the gravel crunch under the tire, they went back to normal mode.

"Well, what did you think?" Marie asked the boys, as they stood up off the couch.

"Well, he looks like Brett Favre and talks like Barney Rubble, but he is one cool guy." Eddy said as he stretched a little.

"Okay boys, it's time to split up." Lee said.

Lee went and grabbed Eddy's hand and they walked out the door going to Eddy's house for their date. Marie grabbed Double D's hands and they walked out to Double D's house. Right before the left, Marie turned around to May and Ed, who were sitting on the sofa.

"You guys comin'?" she asked.

"Naw, we're just gonna stay back here." May replied.

"Okay, have fun." Marie said as her and Double D left and closed the door.

Indeed, the day had only begun.

Rod was driving down the road, on his way to work. He got to thinking about Barbara, and how much they had talked about their relationship over the last 8 hours. He did indeed miss her greatly, and as he had said himself, he tired many times to get her back. But was now a time to try again. He had loved her always. And hadn't gotten over that since the divorce. He didn't divorce her over love, but of circumstance. So he felt love was still there. She was his first love, and he hadn't felt the same since they had split. Was it possible? What was he thinking. It would never happen. Or would it?

He had said himself, "Never say never."

_All at once I miss you _

_So long since I kissed you_

_How I loved to look into your eyes_

_Yes I still dream about you_

_My world is lost without you_

_For you are my first love_

_And first love never, ever dies _

_Seems like yesterday_

_We both went our seperate ways _

_One last kiss then we said goodbye_

_The love I left behind me_

_Comes back to remind me_

_That you are my first love_

_And first love never, ever dies._

_when you're young you sometimes make mistakes_

_But then _

_Where love is strong it never hurts to try again_

_So if you're thinking of me_

_And you find that you still love me_

_There's no use to go on living lies._

_Let's hurry to each other_

_For there can be no other_

_For you are my first love_

_And first love never, ever dies._

_Oh, you are my first love _

_And first love never, ever dies. _


	24. Chapter XXIV

Just as a note, I found that Cartoon Network will be airing the Big Picture show and an episode of Ed, Edd, n Eddy this Friday. Since work is in my forecast, I have already set the DVR for stand by.

Just as a note, I just want to give a shout-out to all my foreign readers. I don't want you guys to feel thrown under the bus. I was recently checking my stats and saw I have hundreds of you guys. I especially want to say hi to my readers in Great Britain, Europe, and especially in the Netherlands. Thanks for your support and here's to you from the United States.

Song in the chapter:

watch?v=qiiyq2xrSI0

Song at the end of the chapter:

watch?v=KekY0NzaiDI

Chapter XXIV

Just as Double D and Marie got back to Double D's house, they shot up straight to Double D's bed room. He had not anticipated it, but went with it anyway. Why fight an uncontrollable thing. A thing like love.

Double D was curious, yet not so uninsured about the situation. He almost could guess the subsequent events that would take place. Enough loosely placed jokes and loosely put statements could get anyone's mind aroused. Especially, as Rod had put it, "horny teenagers." Double D didn't know if he could quite describe himself as such. He knew quite well that scientifically, puberty had taken it's toll. The growth of facial hair, the deepening voice, the, uh, spontaneous excitement. All added together in an equation even he could not help but solve. The proverbial unsolved exponent in this proverbial equation was the act of course that Double D anticipated, and dare he think, hoping was going to take place. He would wonder how he would explain it to Fr. Espicce. But, as anybody knows, logical thinking is rarely taken in a moment of serious action.

Double did contemplate however a justification for it. If indeed this action was going to take place, which he was 90% certain it was, he felt it would be completely out of love, a sharing of the noun, not just a demographically placed pressure. He did not feel pressured by Marie. No, he felt invited. He felt welcomed in fact.

As the two entered the bedroom, Marie quickly closed the door and preempted to lock it.

"Marie, my door has never been secured in that manner, ever." Double D said, almost egging her on.

"Oh, my. Well, there's a first for everything." she said as she docked her head with her shoulders and said in a seductive voice.

"Well, I suppose that is correct." he replied.

"Now, how's about a little music?" Marie asked, again in the same seductive voice.

"Well, music is always welcome. I assume you are educated on the where-abouts of my record collection and turntable." He said, gulping. He didn't want to blow this.

"Oh, I am well aware." she said, giggling, as she started leafing through the records and slipped out a hunk of vinyl that Double D did not recognize.

"Marie, I am certain that your selection will be a decent one." Double D said, as he started to sweat a little.

"Oh, it is." Marie responded as she lifted cut on the turntable and placed the record on it. She lifted and dropped the needle and Double D was sweating bullets at this point. The music started pouring out almost immediately.

_Ohhhhhhhhh, my-my love_

"OH NO, NOT THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS!" Double D shrieked.

"Oh yes." Marie said. The song was indeed _Unchained Melody _by the Righteous Brothers. "You know Double D, I have trusted you so much. You have always treated me with respect and always wanted me for me. I know that you've been getting, well, curious lately."

"What could you mean?" Double D asked in a nervous voice.

"Don't be silly. I've seen you staring. And I've thought you've had enough of the sneak preview, and now it's time for the feature presentation." she said, giggling.

"Oh my lord." Double D uttered. Marie only giggled louder.

"You are ready, aren't you?" she asked, making sure.

"As ready as ever, I suppose." he replied.

"Well, here goes nothing." Marie said as she started to unbutton her blouse.

"Hail Mary, full of grace,…" Double D started as he closed his eyes without letting out a peep. After about 15 seconds, he opened them again. Their stood Marie, completely naked. She blushed heavily and felt a little embarrassed. She had never shown her body to anybody before.

"Oh, my…" Double D said, utterly speechless. He stood there, gap-mouthed.

"What is it, is something wrong?" Marie urged.

"No,…no. It's just you're so beautiful, and I'm so happy, and the room is spinning round, and Righteous Brothers, and, and…" he felt like he was going to faint with joy.

"Well, go on.." Marie said as she motioned with her head. Double D stood there clueless for a moment or so, before finally taking the hint.

"Oh, yes, right." he said as he also slipped off his clothes as well. Marie, out of courtesy, closed her eyes well. When she opened them, she could sense his immense embarrassment as well.

"Oh, well, you're very nice, Double D." she said, trying to put her eyes anywhere but a particular place.

The two stood there as awkward teenagers. After a few minutes, Marie approached him and they started kissing passionately. Before they knew it, the two were on the bed, changing positions every couple seconds.

And the rest is, well, for mature imaginations only.

Who knew the power of two consenting teenagers and one Righteous Brothers record.

Meanwhile, Lee and Eddy were heading back to Eddy's place. Unfortunantly for them, it would not be as fun filled as Marie and Double D's evening.

They rushed in Eddy's room visa-vi his door. Once the got it, Eddy flipped the lights on and sat down on the bed. He invited Lee to come in and sit down next to him.

"Well, alright handsome, if you insist." Lee said as she came and sat down next to him.

"I can't tell ya how many times I've broke in here just to watch you sleep." Lee said.

"Well, that's a little creepy." Eddy replied.

"Well, it was the only time I could see you without you freakin' out and runnin' away. I could actually spend time with you. " she said.

"Yeah, about that,…, well, back then, we didn't know you guys actually 'liked us' liked us. I mean, we felt like you guys were gonna hurt us. So we ran. Ya know, I've always had soime kinda feelins for ya. But I felt like if I told ya, everyone else would hate me. See, you guys aren't necessarily the most liked people around these parts." Eddy replied.

"Well, all that tough girl stuff, it's just an act. All of it. We tried to be nice at first, remember." Lee said.

Eddy looked back into time and brought back the memory of when they had first met the Kankers.

"Yeah," he said, "You guys gave us food and drinks, and treated us all nice. Then you went up and got all dressed up. What was all that about anyway?"

"Well, we were gonna ask you guys out then. We had already rehearsed everything. When you guys refused us, we felt heart broken. We didn't feel appreciated. We felt used. So we decided from then on that we were gonna try the oppisite way" she said.

" Well what changed your minds?" Eddy asked.

"Well, all this stuff with Double D and Marie came up, and it got all of us thinking. We planned it out, and jumped on it. I am so relieved now that it's worked out, ya know. I was so nervous about the whole thing. But once I found out the sweet, loveable guy that you were, well, there was no turning back." she said, leaning in to him.

"You know, I was so nervous about it too. I mean, I never thought in a million years I would get a girlfriend. Ya know all that stuff I do. All that playing around, tryin; to pick up girls and stuff, it's all an act too. I just do it to play off the fact that I couldn't get one. Then you came around and changed all that. I felt like you were different than the other girls. There was somethin' about you. I could feel it the day we met. And ever since then. I could feel the emotions. I didn't just see you as another girl. I guess that's why I never tried to make the moves on ya. I'd been searchin' all my life for that somethin'. I could never figure out what it was. But when my feelins for you started to come out, I figured it out. You were the thing I'd been searchin' for all my life. A love to call my own. Yeah, that's it. That's what it's always been." he said, looking at her.

"Eddy, that is the most romantic thing you have ever said. I love it so much." she said in a dreamy voice.

"Well, when I've got these feelins flowin' through me, I can't help it. It's like I've got some puppet master making me say things that I wanna say, but don't know how to say 'em. I don't know its, I don't know." he said, looking frustrated.

"I think it's called your hormones, silly." Lee said, lifting his chin back up with her hand.

"Yeah, those things." Eddy said, looking back up at her. He couldn't help but notice the smile that was on her face.

"You know Eddy, I've got hormones too. And I feel like they tell me to do stuff too." Lee said, leaning in closer still to Eddy.

"Like what?" Eddy asked in a curious tone.

"Well, plenty of stuff. How to say the right things, how to be romantic, how to talk to you, how to give advice. All kinds of stuff." she said.

"That's it?" Eddy asked.

"Well, they've been tellin' me to do somethin' for awhile now. Somethin' I've always wanted to do, but never had the courage to do." Lee said, still, leaning closer to him.

"What, what is it!" Eddy exclaimed, very anxiously.

"Well, something like this." she said as she finally leaned in to do the deed she had been preparing for all afternoon. As she leaned in, Eddy felt pulled in, almost as if her lips were the tractor beam pulling in a smuggler's spaceship. As they inched closer and closer, the two angled their heads for a perfect angle of attack and closed their eyes slowly. They locked lips and wrestled tongues. They embraced each other with their arms tightly and passionately.

They sat and shared their first true kiss.

_Never felt like this until I kissed ya _

_How did I exist until I kissed ya? _

_Never had you on my mind _

_Now you're there all the time _

_Never knew what I missed till I kissed ya. _

_Uh-huh, I kissed ya. _

_Oh yeah, things have really changed now that I kissed ya_

_My life's not the same now that I kissed ya. _

_Oh yeah. _

_Umm, you gotta way about ya_

_Now I can't live without ya _

_Never knew what I missed till I kissed ya_

_Uh-huh, I kissed ya_

_Oh yeah. _

_You don't realize what you did to me_

_And I didn't realize what a kiss could be. _

_Umm you gotta way about ya _

_Now I can't live with out ya _

_Never knew what I missed till I kissed ya. _


	25. Chapter XXV

The song at the beginng of the chapter:

watch?v=i6yYB_m06g8

The song in the chapter:

watch?v=fDI-daG7NEE

Chapter XXV

_A kiss from your lips_

_Changed my whole life around_

_A kiss like yours_

_Nowhere can be found_

_Gee, Gee, how blessed I am_

_To have a kiss from your lips_

_A kiss from your lips_

_Holds a story still untold_

After kissing for a couple moments, Eddy and Lee just sat there, on the bed, staring at the wall. Neither of them knew exaclty what to say. And actuality, words did not need to be exchanged. Everything that needed to be said, had already been said. Eddy quitely slipped his armm around Lee's shoulders and the two again just sat there.

Quite frankly, words are overrated in some circumstances.

Back at the trailer, Ed and May just sat there as the other two couples went off to their respectible places. Both were still awkward around each other. They sat there trying to find something to talk about. After a few seconds of searching, May finally said something.

"Hey Ed, wanna watch some movies?" May said, trying to find something that both of them could enjoy.

"Yeah, sure!" Ed said, "I mean, if you wanna."

"Let's go!" May said as she grabbed Ed's hand and led him into the Kanker bedroom.

"May, I thought you said we were watching movies." Ed said, very concerned.

"We are Mr. Silly, but I have to find my box of tapes so we can pick some out.

"Oh, okay." Ed replied as she led him over to a slide-door closet. The two knelt down as May pulled the door back and pulled out an old tattered box with "This side up" and an arrow printed onto the side. She pulled the top flaps open, revealing what had to be about 200 VCR tapes, all still in covers and in fairly prestine condition. Ed stared, as this even rivaled his collection of movies. Most of the movies were alien ones. Most of them 1950s 'Mars Invasion' style movies. Ed and May stared, as Ed was too awe struck to really say something. May poked him a little on the arm to make sure he was still alive.

"Okay Ed, which ones do you wanna watch?" May asked is a sweet voice.

"Uh, I don't know. There's so many. Uh, let's see, this one, that one, oh, and that one over there!" Ed said as he pointed out all the movies he called out. May picked them out of the box with her fingers and piled the three tapes up, then slid the box back into the closet and slid the door carefully back.

"Okay, let's go." she said as her and Ed left the room to go back into the living room. Ed went to sit down on the sofa as May took the first tape and slid it into the VCR. The TV went fuzzy for a few seconds, until May switched it to Input 1. After that the tape was a little scratchy, but eventually the movie came up. It was black and white, inebitally showing its age. May went back and sat down next to Ed, and snuggled semi-close to him. As the movie opened, there were no opening credits. Instead just a title card with "Martian Overtake" flashed on with large white letters. Ed and May watched closely as the movie started going. Of course, the acting was horrible, equally coupled with even worse writting. But Ed and May seemed to enjoy it more than any other blockbuster out there.

"Ed, I'm going to get some drinks, do you want anything?" May asked as she got up and headed toward the kitchen.

"Uh, popcorn, yes." Ed said, never taking his eyes away from the screen.

"Okay, Mr. Ed." May said as she slipped into the kitchen. She opened the cabinet over the stove and took out a pack of microwave popcorn and unwrapped it, slapping it into the microwave and hitting the "popcorn" button, which, for some reason, you are always told not to use on the bag of popcorn. Talk about irony. Anyway, whe opened up the refrigerator and took out two Coca-Colas. When she heard the beeping sound of the microwave, May took the bag out and poured it into a large bowl. She grabbed it and the two Cokes and bought them back to Ed. She sat the bowl on the sofa, and handed Ed his drink.

"I didn't know what to get you, so I just guessed." She said.

"A Coke and a smile!" Ed said as he let out a large grin. May couldn't help but smile as Ed grabbed the bowl of popcorn, setting it in his lap so she could sit back down beside him. When she did, she kicked off her shoes and and put her legs under her slightly as she leaned on Ed slightly. He didn't mind at all, and even put his arm around her head. Both of them smiled as the black and white film flickered on the screen and both grabbed handfuls of popcorn and swigs of Coca-Cola. The two could not have been happier.

When the first movie ended, May got up and placed the second one in. This time it was in color. The title of this one, "When The World Was a Host", flashed up as well, and this movie was equally as horrible. But not to Ed and May. While the whole world would have thought they were the strangest people in the world, Ed and May thought they were just as normal as normal could be. And they were just happy that way.

By that time that the second movie was over, it was about 5:30 in the evening. May got up and stretched a little. Ed just sat there, and yawned.

"Shew-ie Ed, I sure am starved, how about you?" May asked, rubbing her stomach.

"Ed requiers food!" he said, rubbing his own stomach. His tummy had been growling for the past hour, since all the popcorn was gone within 15 minutes. He stood up with May and stretched a little as well.

"Well, why don't we go in the kitchen to see what we can rustle up." May said.

"Cool. Let us go into the area of food!" Ed said as he and May walked into the kitchen.

"What is for dinner?" Ed asked.

"Well Ed, if you like, I can show you how we make our Kanker burgers?" May said as she batted her eyes at him.

"Oh, sure May. Those things were good!" Ed exclaimed.

"Okay then." May said, as her and Ed made two of them step by step. She showed him the lard, Ketchup, and all of it. After making them, they put them on some plates and went back into the living room and sat down. May put the TV on the 5 o'clock news, just while they were eating.

Ed took several large bites and finished the entire thing in about two minutes. May, being more modest and lady-like, ate hers in about 15 minutes.

"That was good May. If you don't mind, what is your secret?" Ed asked, anxious to see what the secret was.

"Well, if I tell you, you have to promise to keep it a secret." she said.

"I promise on my right middle toe!" Ed exclaimed.

"Alright," she said, leaning in close to him. He also leaned in, "It's got lots and lots of,...love." she whispered into his ear.

"Oh, that's cool!" Ed said. "How do you measure it?"

"With heaping kisses and hugs." May said as she squeezed Ed into an embrace. He was jumpy at first, but embraced her back with a grin.

She now leaned into his ear and whispered, "I love you, Big Ed."

Ed felt panic-y for a minute, not knowing what to say back. Eventually the fuses in his brain switched, and he whispered back into her ear, "I love you too, May Kanker."

The two brought their heads back and locked in an embracing kiss, not so dissimiar from Eddy's and Lee's. They held each other for a little longer, not wanting to let go. But, eventually of course they did. When they did, both had no idea of what to say. May simply giggled, and Ed chuckled. That was enough communication for them.

May got up and placed the third and last movie in and went back to the sofa, laying down while leaning her head onto Ed's chest. He brushed her hair around with his hand as she snuggled around joyously.

Around 8 o'clock, it was starting to darken outside. The TV was the only light flashing in the house. As May and Ed sat there, it was starting to get cold. The air conditioner was running full blast, and it had to be 59 degrees in the room. May got up and went behind the sofa and pulled out a blanket. By this time Ed had rearranged himself and was lying down with his head on the armrest. May looked at him for a minute before he spoke.

"Come May, lie down." he said.

"Okay." she replied as she lyed down on her side, overlapping onto to him. she put the blanket around the two of them, and Ed put his arms around her waist. The two snuggled up together as Ed leaned and kissed her on the forehead and said, "Good night, pudding cup."

May turned her head a little and said, "Good night, Big Ed."

The two continued watching until they dozzed off and went to sleep, in love, and in each other's arms.

_They say for every boy and girl_

_There's just one love in this whole world_

_And I know I've found mine._

_The heavenly touch of your embrace_

_tells me no one could take your place_

_E-eee-ever in my heart._

_Young love_

_First love_

_filled with true devotion_

_Young love_

_Our love_

_We share with deep emotion_

_Just one kiss from your sweet lips_

_will tell me that your love is real_

_And I can feel that it's true_

_We will vow to one another_

_There will never be another_

_Lo-ooove for you, or for me._

_Young love_

_First love_

_filled with true devotion_

_Young love_

_Our love_

_We share with deep emotion_.

Around 10 o'clock, Lee and Marie slipped in. They walked home together, and talked about their induvidual afternoons on the way home. They peeped through the door and saw the television static tingling.

"What's goin' on in there Marie? Is it steamy?" Lee asked, as Marie was standing on Lee's shoulders.

"Nothin' Lee, they're just sleepin' on the couch." she replied.

"Ahhh, ain't that sweet. Come on Marie, let's sneak into our rooms all quite like and go to bed. Don't wake the love birds." Lee said.

"Right behind ya Lee." Marie said as they quietly opened the door and went into their bedroom.

About an hour later, a car pulled up outside. Rod stepped out and closed his car door. He looked very tired, with a 5'clock shadow and baggy eyes. He had just worked almost 12 hours in a row. He was ready to go in and go to bed. But he also noticed the flashing television screen. He was tall enough where he had to duck his head to look through the window at the top of the door. He saw the two curled up asleep, and let out a sigh of relief. He quietly opened the door, then closed it and locked it. He tiptoed up the stairs and into the guest bedroom that he was sleeping in for the next three days.

"Kids, haven't changed a bit since I was one!" he said once he closed the door behind him. He flipped on the light and walked over to the telephone on the wall.

"Better call his mom, so she doesn't get worried." he said as he scanned through the phone book till he found the number and dialed up.

After a few rings, someone answered and he spoke.

"Hello, is this Ed's mom?" he asked as he held the phone up in his hand.

"Yes it is. Do you know where my son is!" she demanded. Rod nearly dropped the phone.

"Why yes I do. See, I'm Rod Van Wilmer, his girlfriend May's father. Ed is staying over here tonight, if that's alright with you. He's asleep on the couch now." he said, trying to calm her down.

"See Edwin, I told you he was over there," she said to her husband in the background, "Anyway, thank you so much. Just send him back tomorrow, okay Mr. Van Wilmer. And keep an eye on them. You know how kids are." she said, hinting at the thing he knew she was thinking of.

"Don't worry ma'am. I am keeping a close eye on them both. But Ed's a good kid, I know he wouldn't try anything. well, I gotta go, just wanted to let you know. Goodbye now." he said.

"Okay, bye-bye." she said as she hung up the phone.

At Ed's house, his mother let out a sight of relief. she was standing there in her pajamas, and Mr. Laughorne was standing in his stripped bathrobe.

"See, I told ya, nothin' to worry about. Now let's get to bed. I feel like I'm gonna pass out." he said as he headed up the stairs.

Mrs. Laughorne still couldn't get over how he had called him a good kid, and she followed her husband back up the stairs.

Back at the trailer, the two lovers slept in heavenly peace, as Rod had snuck down to cut off the TV before going to bed himself.


	26. Chapter XXVI

Chapter XXVI

When the morning came, the sun crested above the horizon and was now rising into the sky. Marie and Lee were already up and fighting over the newspaper at the small kitchen table, which original funtionallity was mostly likey a poker table at one point. Rod was at the stove, fixing pancakes, when May and Ed finally decided to wake up. May stood up and stretched a little, and Ed just sat up on the couch and yawned a little.

"Morning Big Ed." May said as she stretched her arms.

"Oh my, I had no idea we fell asleep. I was tired." Ed said.

"It's alright Ed, it was so nice." May replied.

Ed finally stood up and the two walked into the kitchen. Rod was standing at the stove, flipping flapjacks. He had messed up hair, a noticible stubble on his face, and his signature bathrobe on. He looked pretty tired, for he hadn't slept very good that night at all.

"Morning sleepy heads." he said as the two walked in and sat down at the table across from Lee and Marie. "You guys are just in time for breakfast. It's comin' right up." he said as he filled five plates up with flapjacks and slid them onto the table, and he took a seat himself. Rod crossed himself and said a silent prayer before continuing.

"So, you guys sleep alright. Or did you really sleep at all?" Rod said as he chuckled.

May and Ed looked around and blushed heavily. Ed picked up his fork and started to eat.

"I'm just kiddn'! I got home about 11 last night and saw you guys asleep. You looked so precious laying there. God only knows if I'd had a camera on me at the time. My goodness. Anyway, Lee, Marie, I suppose you two behaved yourselves last night?" he asked, turning to the two.

Lee looked at Marie with a cheesey grin, almost as if she was going to tell Rod everything. But she decided to spare her sister and keep quiet.

"Yes sir." Both of them said in unison.

"Well alright. What time did you get home?"

"10 o'clock." Marie said, finishing up her pancakes and getting up to put her plate in her sink. Lee picked up her plate and followed suit.

"My goodness, you girls must have been hungry. I don't think I've ever seen somebody eat that fast in my life. Do you girls ever even eat breakfast?" he asked, slightly concerned.

"Not usually, we typically only eat dinner." Marie responded.

Rod just shook his head and finished up his breakfast.

"Well guys, I'm going to freshen up. Come get me if you need me." Rod said as he put his plate in the sink and went up the stairs toward the bathroom. He grabbed a bath towel and a small hand towel.

Shortly afterwards, a knock came at the door. Marie went to open it, and saw Double D standing there.

"Double D!" she screamed as she ran up and hugged him in the threshold. Double D hugged her back and kissed her. The two walked back in and shut the door behind them.

"Cutie, what are you doing here?" she asked, very excitedly.

"Well, I was quite bored at home, and decided to come over here. At least I might find some decent conversation." he said.

"Good, good come in here in the kitchen. Ed's in here too." She said as she grabbed his hand and led him into the kitchen.

"Ed, I was wondering where you were last night. I didn't know why you did not return home." Double D said, as he took a seat next to Ed.

"Oh yeah, I accedentially fell asleep last night over here. Funny, huh?" Ed said as he chuckled slightly.

"Why yes, I guess that is slightly humorous." Double D responded.

While all this was taking place, Marie ran up the stairs to go get Rod. He was in the bathroom with hot water running in the sink. His face was covered in a thin layer of Barbasol shaving creme, and he had a two-blade disposable razor in his hand, getting ready to start shaving, when Marie came and knocked on the door.

"Rod, Rod, Double D's here!" she said through the door.

"Okay Marie, I'll be down as soon as I'm down, okay." he said.

"Okay see you in a bit." Marie said as she went back down stairs.

The five kids sat in the kitchen and talked for a while, mostly about their nights. After roughly 30 minutes, Rod came back down in his night guard attire, but with out the tie. He decided to go tieless today.

"Double D, you're just the man I wanted to see. You're Italian, so you must be Catholic too, right?" He asked, taking a seat at the table.

"Why yes I am." he replied.

"I am too." Ed said.

"And my I point out that Eddy is as well. So why do you ask?" Double D asked.

"Well, I'm Catholic too, and I live on the other side of town and go to the Our Lady of Righteousness parish out there near Lemonbrook. You guys go to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, don't you?" Rod asked.

"Why yes we do, the one downtown." Double D answered.

"I was wondering if we could go to your parish Sunday for Mass. Since I've heard you took Marie last week. I always wanted to raise them Catholic, but Barbara insisted Lutheran. I can take em Sunday. Hell, maybe I can get Barbara to come along. We'll have a great time."

"Okay." Double D said, "We'll all go to Mass Sunday. Sounds lovely, right Ed?"

"Cool." Ed said, not really paying attention.

The days went by rather fast. On Friday, the Kanker's and Ed's spent the day together. On Saturday Rod took all six of them out to the ball park, then they went out for dinner. Finally, on Sunday, Ms. Kanker called and Rod went to pick her up. It was 5 o'clock in the morning that morning. Ms. Kanker seemed happy to be back in town.

"Welcome back." Rod said as Ms. Kanker stepped in and closed the passenger side door.

"Glad to be back. So, what are your plans for today?" she asked him.

"Well, actually Barbara, I am taking the girls with me to Mass this morning. They're already up and fighting over the bathroom. You can come along if you like. I really want you to?" he said.

"Well, normally I would say no, but since it's for the girls, sure, I'll go. I haven't been to Mass with you since we got married." she said.

Once they got back to the house, Ms. Kanker went and got ready. Marie, Lee, and May were sitting on the sofa. They had matching light orange dresses on that came down to the knee, and mathing bow in their hair. Rod had bought them for them yesterday at a fancy clothing store. Rod went up and got ready as well. He put on a light brown blazer and pants with matching tie and a beige shirt. He took and parted his hair and shaved, then came down and joined the sisters. They talked a little before Ms. Kanker came down. She was gorgeous, with a blue blouse and dark blue skirt. She did her hair up and put on make-up for the first time in seven years. They could hardly recognize her.

"Well, let's go." she said. They all piled into the car and left. It was the first time in 5 years they had done something as a family. And they were all happy.

They got to the parish a little early. Mass starts at 8, and they got there at 7:30. The McGee's, the Laughornes, and Double D, were all there and sitting in their pews, talking with other families, when the Kankers came in. They sat down in the pew behind Eddy's family and Double D. The six kids all got up and went to the pew behind them and sat in couples together. The parents all smiled at them.

The pews filled up fast, and the late minute people slipped in early. At about 7:55, the cantor signaled the entrance chant, and everybody stood up and sang out of the hymnal. The altar boys and the one carrying the procession cross came in. Behind them was always wise Fr. Espicce, in his usual green and white Mass vestaments. Behind him were two deacons, also in their green vestaments. The lights from the ceiling glimered off of 's round glasses, as he walked up the long aisle. As soon as he bowed and placed the Book of Gospels on the altar, he and the deacons walked over and stood at their chairs up on the area.

After the chant was through, Fr. Espicce spoke in his thick New York accent.

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." he said, intiating the Sign of the Cross. Everybody followed him in doing so and they all said "Amen" at the end.

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." he said.

"And with your spirit." they responded.

"Brothers and sisters, let us now acknowlege our sins, as so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries."

The congregation then recited the Penitential Rite. Afterwords, the cantor lead everyone in the Kyrie, eleison. The girls enjoyed finally being able to sing, for each of them had beautiful voices.

After the Kyrie, Fr. Espicce chanted "Gloria in excelsis Deo." in the most soft and beautiful baritone voices, calling everyone to chant the Gloria. The girls and Ms. Kanker read them out of the book.

"Let us pray." Fr. Espicce chanted again. "Father God, prosider over all that is Holy and Unified, bring to us today the Sacred Mysteries of Your Saving Passion. Bring to us the wisdom of Your Eternal Word. Throught Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever."

"Amen." everyone said as they sat down.

One of the altar boys came up the the podium and opened up the Bible.

"A reading from the Book of Ezekiel." he said as he read the passage. After the reading, he went and sat down as the cantor lead everyone in the Psalm. Then Ed's father, Mr. Laughorne, went up to the podium and said,

"A reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians." He read the passage and returned back to the pew.

Everyone stood up to for the singing of the Alleluia. Fr. Espicce held up the Book of Gospels as he made his way to the podium. When he got there, he opened it to the marked page and spoke.

"The Lord be with you." he said in a calm and inviting voice.

"And with your Spirit." Everyone responded as they stood.

"A reading of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew." he chanted as he crossed his forehead, lips, and chest, as well as the Bible.

"Glory to you, Lord." they responded as they also repeated the crossing. After the reading, he said. "The word of the Lord." and they responded, "Praise to you, Jesus Christ." then they sat down as Fr. Espicce began his homily.

"Love is a many splendered thing. Especially between two people. Now, you may ask yourselves, 'What does a priest know about love between two people?' Well, you might be right in assuming that. I mean, I am a 63 year old celebate. But I do know a thing or two about the subject. I have married many people, and seen many couples together. In fact, we have three couples here today who are quite young. Oh, young love. It is a beautiful thing, is it not. However, you may ask how this ties into the Church. Well, the love shared between two people is very similar to the love God has for the Church. The Bible does say the the Church is the Bride of Christ. And today, on this 16th week in Ordinary Time, we will compare the love between two people and the love of God for the Church. I will use a simple, subtle model to illistrate this. That model will be a house. Now, we will have to examine what makes a house. You have a foundation, walls, a roof, furniture, and people inside. Now to start off with, every house has a foundation. It is the first thing that you construct. And it has to be a sturdy foundation for the house to stand up. Now, this is obvious in Scripture. Jesus called on St. Peter to be the 'Rock on which the Church will be built on.' Jesus saw Peter as a very sturdy and strong structure on which the church will be built on. And indeed, it was, and is still standing on that foundation today. In a relationship, a foundation is necesarry in order to start it. And just as many houses share a common item of concrete as a foundation, relationships share the common item of love as their relationship. Building a relationship out of anything but love is similar to building a house on a foundation of toothpicks" he said as the congregation laughed a little, "it will always collapse. Next we move on to the walls. The Church has what I call 'transparent walls.' Anyone can come in. Everyone is welcomed into the grace of the Lord. But sin is blocked out. Evil is blocked out. As in a relation ship, there are walls as well. Things like advice, communication, friends, et cetera are welcomed in. But things such as falsehoods, gossip, and such are blocked out. And sometimes can tear the walls down, similar to how sin can tear down the Church. These walls must be reinforced if both are to survive. Next comes the roof. Now, this may sound strange, but the Holy Bible is the roof of the Church. Now, you may ask what I mean by that. Think about a roof on a house. It takes the most damage in a storm, it is the most exposed and noticible thing, and covers the whole house. The same can be said about the Bible. It takes the most hatred from the outside world, it is the most recogizeable thing about the Church, and the Bible covers everything we as the Church are to do. In a relationship, the relationship itself is the roof. Taking damage, being patched up, et cetera. Now, you have the furniture. And we all know the purpose of furniture in a house. To make it look pretty. To look presentable, look professional. In the Church, we as the clergy are the furniture. How is that? Well, we stand out in the Church. We make it professional, and we add substance and wholeness to the Church. Ever go into a house with no furniture? It looks empty, doesn't it? And so would the church without clergy. The priests, the Bishops, the Cardinals, and even Pope Benedict the XVI. In a relationship, the furnitrue is the love the couple shares. The way they talk to each other, communication, in other words. The way they treat each other. Essentially, their day to day lives. Now finally, the people within. The people are everything in the Church. You, as parishoners, are the Church. You support the Church, you tithe, you come to Mass, you pray, and all of those things. You keep the Church around. If it had not been for the few people 2,000 years in the past, the Church would not be here today. In contrast, the people within a relationship are the family, friends, relatives, et cetera. They are the supporters, the ones who give advice, counseling, all comfort to those who need it. So, God's love for the Church is just as strong as a man's love for a woman. So let us remember, on this 16th Sunday of Ordinary time, that just as God's love for the Church will never end, so should a couple's love never end. And that the minute we lose our love for each other, is the minute we lose our love of God." Fr. Espicce finished as he walked back over to his seat and sat down. The Kankers, the Ed's, Rod, Barbara, all sat there thinking about the poetic words he had just spoken.

The Mass went on, as they stood to recite the Nicine Creed, then said the Prayer of the Faithful. After that, the Eucharist carried on. After the Holy Eucharist , they all kneeled there at the pew. Once Fr. Espicce was finished, he went back to his seat and stood, saying "Let us pray." Everyone stood for the end of Mass as Fr. Espicce said the closing prayer.

"As a reminder, I would like to remind everybody that there will be a charity Pancake Breakfast next Saturday morning to help with the Mission. If you would like to donate materials or offer your help, please contact Parish director Edwin Laughorne."

"The Lord be with you."

"And with your Spirit."

"May Almighty God bless you in the the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." he said as everyone crossed themselves and said Amen.

"Go in the peace of the Lord."

"Thanks be to God."

After which, everyone began the exit chance as Fr. Espicce reverenced the altar and left with the deacons and the altar boys with the procession cross. After everybody greeted Fr. Espicce, including the rest of the Kankers and Rod, he stopped them for a minute.

"Let me just say that with the will of God, this family is very blessed indeed. May God watch over you all, and I hope you think about the homily. It tends to stick." Fr. Espicce told them all.

"Thank you." the sisters responded.

They left and got in their cars, ready for a productive afternoon. However, Rod and Barbara kept thinking about th homily, and how touching it really was.

Fr. Espicce was truly a great priest and speaker.


	27. Chapter XXVII

Just wanted to say Happy Friday the 13th to all you Gregorian calendar users out there. And it's Friday, baby! The weekend is here!

The songs in this chapter:

watch?v=Ihczg3RFZ-E

watch?v=94VWNiOcss0

Chapter XXVII

When the Kankers returned back to the trailer, they went up and put on their casual clothes. Rod and Barbara went into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Ms. Kanker suddenly realized that the newspaper had not been delievered to their house that morning.

"Hey Rod, did the paper get here this morning?" she asked him.

"No, as far as I know. I don't remember seeing it. Why do you ask?" he replied, pouring himself a cup of coffee from the auto-drip on the counter.

"I always get the coupons out of it to use at the store. I really need one." she said.

Rod walked into the living and saw Marie coming down the stairs.

"Hey Marie, come over here a second." he said as he signaled with his hand.

"What is it Rod?" she asked as she walked up to him.

"Listen," he said as he crouched down to her height, "your mom said the paper didn't run this morning, and she's about to throw a fit if she doesn't get the coupons. Now listen, here's a dollor fifty in quartes," he said as he poured the six quarters into her hand, "go up to the corner, you know, up there at the street. There's a newspaper box up there. Do me a favor and go up there and get one for me, will ya?" he asked.

"So, it's just up there on the corner, up the road?" she asked.

"That's right. Just go up to the box, put the quarters in, and pull the lever down. Reah in and get a newspaper, then come straight back, alright." he said, standing straight up again.

"Okay." Marie said as she hurried out the door.

"What was all that about?" Ms. Kanker asked him as he walked back into kitchen, and leaned in the doorway.

"Oh, I just got Marie to go up to the corner to grab a paper from the box." he responded.

"Good." she responded.

"Hey," Rod said, standing up again, "I'm goin' outside for a minute, you wanna come?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

"Sure, if anything I could use some fresh air." Ms. Kanker responded.

The two walked toward the front door and went through it and into the area in front ot the trailer. Rod pulled a pack of Camel cigarettes out of his pants pocket and beat them on the palm of his hand a couple times before ripping off the wrapper and pulling a cigarette out of it and put it into his mouth. He held it there for a few moments. Ms. Kanker didn't notice till she heard the flicking sound of his Zippo lighter and the puff of ozone that came up from it.

"You still smoke those coffin nails?" she asked. She had forced him to quit before they started dating.

"Afraid so. After the divorce, well, it was hard. I had to do something to take my mind off the situation. I've never liked alcohol, and I would never touch drugs. I don't know, it just takes my nerves down sometimes. Stress can kill ya. I guess that's why I don't think about things too much anymore." he said as he puffed his cigarette and flicked the ashes onto the ground.

"You're not the only one with stress. It gets to me too. I mean working all the time, never getting a break, dealing with those three. I'm sober now. Heck, I don't think drinking would even put a dent in my stress right now. I used to worry about the girls so much. I used to never know what they were up to. What they were doing. You said yourself, girls left to their own devices in a situation like theirs tend to get into a heap of trouble. But now that they have these boyfriends of theirs, the Eds. They've changed so much. They're honest, nice to each other, polite, and down right respectable. I never thought I would see it. It really has taken a lot of stress off. I feel so much better now."

"Yeah, those Eds are somethin', aren't they? Larry, Curly, and Moe doesn't even begin to describe it. Ya know, I got home from work Wednesday, and when I came in, guess what I saw?"

"What?" Ms. Kanker said, very concerned.

"When I peeped in the front door right there, I saw the TV flashing. I didn't think too much of it at first, but when I unlocked the door and stepped in, I saw May and Ed, under a blanket, sleeping. It was so precious Barbara. If only I'd had a camera. Ed was up against the back of the sofa, on his side. My God his snoring was like a freight train. And May was in his arms, on her side in front of him, her arms were curled up and holding onto the blanket. I swear it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. It was really somethin'." he said, puffing his cigarette once more.

"Ah, isn't that so nice. It's amazing how kids act when they're in love. They do some pretty stupid stuff, don't they?" she said, looking up at him. She looked at him the way a girlfriend looks at a boyfriend, not the way two divorced people look at each other.

"We did some crazy stuff too. Remember the time we chaporoned the school dance when the kids were in first grade?" he said.

"Yeah, the kids were just standing around until you picked up a guitar and started playing Johnny B. Goode, like you were Marty McFly or something."

"Yeah, that was crazy, and I didn't even know how to play guitar. But it sure got those kids jammin'."

"Yeah, we had some good times. It's a shame it had to end the way it did. All the fighting, yelling. If I could take it all back just to be with you again, I would. I feel so bad for all that, Rod. I just think you must be the best man in the world for still sticking by me and loving me after all that. You must have truly been in love." she said.

"I was, and still am. True love never dies. The love we had, that type of love, just doesn't go away with a court settlement and a document. No lawyer, no judge, no damn piece of paper can take away what we had. It will stay with us forever. The only love that goes away is psudeo-love. But that's not what we had. What we had was real. What we had was pure. And nothing, nobody, and no way can ever destroy that." Rod said as he took one last puff of his cigarette and flicked it to the gravel and stomped it out with his foot.

"Rod, I've never heard you speak that way. I had no idea,..I mean,...I am so glad you still have feelings and everything,...I mean, if there was ever a time when I needed someone to love me, now is the time." she said as Rod came over and sat on the stoop next to her. He grabbed her hand into his and placed his other hand over it.

"Barbara, I will always love you. Feelings, feelings are temporary, love is permanent. I've,...I've had feelings for plenty of girls before. But you're the only girl I will ever love. You're mine." he said, smiling a half-smile.

Barbara leaned in as he did, and the two kissed and embraced. Love has a way of doing that, ya know.

_I prayed to the Lord_

_To send me a love_

_He sent me an angel_

_From heaven above_

_The stars in the sky_

_He placed in her eye_

_She is my true love_

_The touch of her hand_

_Captures my soul_

_And the kiss_

_From her lips_

_Sent my heart aglow_

_And I know from heaven above_

_Came my, my true love._

_Darling I love you_

_I'll always be true_

_My prayers, they were answered,_

_and the Lord sent me you._

Marie was walking up the road when she saw a kid standing around up there. She had never seen him before. He had rust colored hair and an evil look on his face. As she approached the news box, he followed her with his eyes. She was a little scared by him, as the atmosphere he created was quite creepy and intimidating. She went to grab the coins out of her pocket when he spoke up.

"Hey, ugly, what are you doin' around here!" he yelled as he came up to her. She flinched back at first, almost ready to sock him one.

"What did you call me?" she said in an angry voice.

"Ugly, that's right. Whatcha gonna do about it, ugly? You gonna blind me with your face, cause it's workin' now! Hold up, I think I'm gonna get sick,...someone call a doctor! I can't handle this ugliness much longer! Ah, it burns, get away from me!" he screamed.

Marie was on the verge of crying, and the tears she held back were becoming more and more obvious. It was the first time she had felt destroyed and defenseless. The kid just stood there laughing his head off, almost in a manical fashion. Marie just took off running down the road and triped as the kid stuck his foot out and forced her to stumble. He kept laughing and laughing, and by now Marie could no longer contain the tears she had bottled up. She let loose her emotions, and started wailing as she ran down the road and toward the trailer park.

"That's right. Boo-hoo, boo-hoo! serves you right, ya cry baby! Run on home!" the kid screamed into his cupped hands as she ran, wailing and balling. She had never felt so hurt before.

As Rod and Barbara sat there on the stoop talking and laughing, they could see Marie running fast down the road, wailing as she had been. Words could honestly and shouldn't honestly describe the emotions she let out as she darted past the two on the stoop, nearly running over them. She darted past Lee and May on the couch, and ran into her room, slamming the door shut and locking it. She ran over to her bed and held her head under her pillow, wailing away.

"What the hell happened! What's wrong with her?" Rod said as he and Barbara ran back into the house as quick as they could. Lee and May were standing at the bedroom door, listening to Marie's cries. They looked up to Rod and Barbara for answers.

"What happened to her?" Lee asked in almost a whisper.

"That's what we came to find out." Rod said as he motioned the girls away from the door and tried to twist the knob.

"Marie, honey, you unlock this door right now, and tell us what happened!" he demanded.

"Go away, I don't wanna talk!" she screamed between wails.

"Well, there's no use. She's not comin' out." Rod said as he twisted the knob a couple more times in one last effort.

"What do we do?" Barbara asked him, concerned.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to call in the special forces. I'm gettin' the Ed's over here." he said as he walked toward the phone and found Double D's number in the phone book. Once he called him and hung up the phone, Rod walked over and sat down on the sofa.

"Is he coming over?" Barbara asked as she sat down next to him.

"Yeah, he said he'll be here as quick as he can. If anybody can talk to her, it's him." Rod replied. Barbara simply nodded in agreement.

Within roughly 5 minutes, Double D pulled up outside on his bicycle. Rod heard the gravel crunch and stepped outside the door.

"What seems to be the problem?" a concerned Double D asked.

"Somethin's happened. We can't get her to talk, and we figure of all people, you should be the one that should get her to talk. Come inside, please, she's in her room. She locked herself in there." Rod said as he held the door open for Double D.

Inside, no one said anything. The loud sound of Marie's cries had died down slightly by now, but it was still predominate. Rod and Double D walked over to the bedroom door and stood there.

"Marie, Double D is here. He wants to talk to ya." Rod said as the two stood there.

"Go away, I don't believe you!" she shouted. Rod looked down at Double D, and he could catch his hint.

"Marie, it is really I, Edd. I came here to see what was wrong." Double D said through the door.

"Double D?" Marie asked in a more happy voice. Rod looked with an approving expression and walked back over to the couch and sat down. The sound of footsteps from the bedroom was only slightly muffled, and could be heard by Double D as the tumblers in the door's lock could be heard unmeshing as the knob twisted and the door cracked open. Marie stood there, quite tear stained. She looked miserable, and completely drained of energy.

"Come in, please." Marie said in a soft voice as she pulled the chain lock off and opened the door enough for Double D to slip through. She walked back over to her bed and laid down, as Double D sat down next to her.

"Oh Double D, thank goodness you're here! It was so awful. It was so bad!" she said as she hugged him from the side and started wailing again.

"What on Earth happened?" Double D asked as he hugged her back.

"Well," she said, wiping some of the tears away and sniffling, "I was going up to the corner to pick up a newspaper for Rod, when all of a sudden,...I walked up to the box and this kid was walking around, almost if he had been expecting me to be up there. Then he started,..." she sniffled back some more tears, "he started calling me ugly and everything, then he tripped me and called me ugly some more!" Marie exclaimed as she wailed some more. Double D embraced her and tried to console her.

"It is alright Marie. Don't listen to him. You are the most beautiful girl God ever put on this Earth, and don't anyone, especiall immature, jealous, little punks like him tell you any different. You are the most gorgeous ever, and you always will be." he said.

"Oh Double D, you always know the right things to say. I love you so much." she said as she laid back down on her side.

"I love you too Marie. Now you don't need to cry anymore. I'm here, and I won't ever let that happen to you ever again." He said as he rubbed her side with his hand. She sniffled a little, but continued to cry. She was slowly crying herself to sleep, for her energy was completely drained. Double D just sat there, watching her go to sleep.

_Hushabye, hushabye_

_Oh my darlin' don't you cry_

_Guardian angels up above,_

_Take care of the one I love_

_Ohhhhhhhhhhh,_

_Ohhhhhhhhhhh,_

_Hushabye, hushabye_

_Oh my darlin' don't you cry._

_Guardian angels up above,_

_take care of the one I love._

_Ohhhhhhhhhhh,_

_Ohhhhhhhhhhh,_

_Pillows lying on your bed_

_Oh my darling, rest your head_

_Sandman will be coming soon_

_singing you a slumber tune._

_Ohhhhhhhhhhh, ohhhh-oh,_

_Lullabye, and good night_

_In your dreams I hold you tight_

_Lullabye, and good night_

_Till the dawn's early light_

_Hushabye, hushabye_

_Oh my darling don't you cry,..._


	28. Chapter XXVIII

Chapter XXVIII

After Marie drifted into sleep, Double D quietly left the room and closed the door behind him.

"Well, what's the skinny?" Rod asked.

"Well, she claims there was a boy at the newspaper box called her ugly and tripped her." Double D said, letting out a sigh.

"Who is he?" Lee demanded as she rose up off the couch, turning red with anger, "I wanna know who, so I can go and pound their face in!"

"Calm down Lee, we'll find out when all is said and done. You'll probably never see him again anyway. Anyway, it's over with now anyway. Looks like the professional here took care of everything. Thanks Double D, you're a good guy, you've done more for this family than you could ever know. Thanks so much." Rod said as he walked up and gave Double D a friendly hug. Double D didn't expect it at first, but accecpted it and hugged him back. After they were done, Rod patted Double D on the back and walked back to the couch.

"You know, I have never seen this family quite this happy ever before." Double D said.

Every one just smiled around at each other.

"Well, I guess I will great you fine people at a later time. I will come back over later." Double D said, waving goodbye as he went out the door.

"Hey, wait up Double D!" Lee cried as she followed Double D out the door.

"What is it Lee?" He asked as they stood on the stoop.

"I just wanted to thank you for being there for Marie. Nobody has ever been able to talk to her when she gets like that. You must be the closest person on Earth to her right now. I just wanted to say thank you for all you've done." Lee said as she started walking back to the trailer.

"You're quite welcome Lee. Goodbye now." Double D said as he mounted his bike.

"Bye." Lee called as she waved as he drove off. She went back in the house and sat back down on the couch.

Rod suddenly stood up and walked toward the door.

"I'm goin' for a smoke break, be back in in five." he said as he opened the door. Barbara got up quickly and said "Hold up, I'll come out too." as she went out the door. She had had a nervous and anxious face all afternoon, wanting to ask Rod something. Lee and May knew what it meant when their mother went out with Rod for one of his smoke breaks. Since she was a strict non-smoker, it was not for a cigarette, no. It was to have a serious adult conversation isolated from the kids. They just sat and waited.

Outside, Rod had taken a cigarette from his pack and slid it into his mouth. After flicking his Zippo several times, the cigarette lit up in a puff of smoke and he positioned it inbetween his fingers and held it to his his side as he blew the excess smoke from between his lips. Barbara stood there on the stoop. Rod could tell something was up.

"What is it Barbara?" he asked, flicking his ashes onto the ground.

"Rod, I want to know if you can do something for me?" she asked as she walked over to him.

"What is it?" he asked, looking down into her eyes.

"Can I borrow your car for about an hour?" she asked, with a puppy dog face, almost like a 16 year old girl asking her father for the keys.

"What do you need it for?" he asked, taking in a puff.

"I just need it, okay? I'm not gonna be gone long, just an hour. I promise not to mess it up."

Rod took in a a sharp inhale and took out his coveted key. He held it in his hand and forked it over to her.

"Not a scratch, understand?" he said with a stern voice and face.

"Oh, Rod!" she said as she hugged him around the waist and pecked him on the lips, "you're the best guy ever!"

"Not a scatch." he retorted.

"Okay, okay." she said as she hopped in the driver seat and started the beautiful engine up. She put the lever into drive and rode off down the road. Rod puffed his cigarette and looked on with a smile.

Barbara drove on and into down town. She pulled into a parking lot and parked her car. It was about 2 o'clock, and the sun was already starting to bake the asphalt. She looked up at the large, extravagent building infront of her. It was the Peach Creek Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The two giant bell towers were complemented by a large stainglass window of the crucifixion in the middle. It was quite possibly the largest building in Peach Creek.

She went in through the doors and felt the relief of the air conditioner vent. It was quite dark, except for the sunlight and candle light. She looked over and saw Fr. Espicce, in his black cassock and white collar, walking around the chapel, reading the Bible, as the Dominican friars of the parish were lighting candles in their beautiful black and white robes. Fr. Espicce noticed Barbara and walked quickly over to her.

"Ms. Kanker, what brings you back here this afternoon?" he asked as he closed his Bible and placed it back on a pew. The candle light glimmered off of his large round glasses.

"I have come here for a confession, Father." she said as she lowered her head.

"A Confession, a confession? Are you absoluely sure?" he asked.

"Positive." she said, "I have some things I need to be absolved of."

"Well, take and dip your fingers in that bath of holy water over there and follow me." he said. Barbara did as he told and followed him through an ancient looking wooden door and up some more ancient looking marble stairs. Once they got to the top, they went into another door and into the Confessional room. It was a dark room with the window, kneeling pedistals, and several candles everywhere.

"I am sure you know the basics of a Confession. Now, as you are not a Catholic, I cannot absolve your sins, but God will forgive them. Just kneel down over there while I go to my station." he said as he went through the black veil and put on his Confessional vestaments. Barbara knelt down as Fr. Espicce sat in his seat.

"Bless me Father, for I have sinned." Barbara said as she crossed herself.

"What are your sins, my daughter." Fr. Espicce responded.

"Well first off, my unfaithfulness to my ex-husband. We should have never divorced. I ran out on him just about every night, and he still stuck by me and loved me. And I could never forgive myself for the things I have done to him. I was a horrible spouse." Barbara said in a saddened voice, and she lowered her head a little.

"Yes, yes, go on." Fr. Espicce said behind the veil, in his stern as ever voice.

"Well, I was never good to my daughters. I have never been close to them, and to be honest, have even not cared for them at some points in there lives. I wasn't a good mother, but tried as best I could. I wish I could have been more of a mother to them in the past. They've really needed me in the past, but I wasn't there. I feel horrible for that. I should have been there." Barbara said, holding tears back. Fr. Espicce, trying to stay professional, had to mask his emotions as well.

"Very well, go on." he said.

"And lastly, I am sorry for all the people I have let down and all the people I have taken advantage of. I'm sorry for what I do. I have hurt so many people before, and if I could take it all back, I would. It's haunted me all my life." she said as she finished up.

"Very well, is that all?" he asked.

"It is that, Father, it is that." she said, feeling like the world had been taken off of her shoulders in an Atlas type euphinesim.

"God loves you and forgives you." he said. "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." he finished as he pointed his first two fingers of his right hand up and crossed himself in the air.

"Thank you so much Father." she said as she stood up.

After a few minutes, Fr. Espicce walked back out with just his cassock and collar on.

"Ms. Kanker, I feel as if something is really bothering you. Now, that I am out of the Cofessional, you can talk to me as a counselor, now come and tell me what is troubling you." he said, in a concerned voice.

"How could you tell, Father?" she asked, amazed.

"Believe me, when you've been a priest for 38 years, you can tell these things. come on back to my office, and we can talk." he said as he lead her out of the room and down the hall. There were several rooms along the hall, and finally they got to a door that was dark brown and had a plaque on it that said "the Rev. Franco R. Espicce, S.J.". Two went inside. The interior was very simple. The walls were wood-paneled and there was a large mahogony desk with a computer on it. Behind his desk were several Boston College diplomas. It was very organized, with all the papers in their place. There were several copies of the Catechism, as well as a Roman Missal and Bible. On the wall behind the desk was a large golden crucifix. Beside the door, there was a coat rack with a black sport jacket on it. In front of the desk, there were two nice chairs and a small table. There were several book shelves along the walls filled with books. Fr. Espicce took off his cassock and sat in his office chair behind his desk. He hung the cassock on the coat rack, leaving him in his black short sleeve shirt and Roman Collar. He invited Barbara to have a seat, and she sat down in one of the chairs.

"Tell me Ms. Kanker,-" he said as Barbara stopped her.

"Please, please Father, call me Barbara." she said.

"Okay, Barbara, what seems to trouble you today? You seem nervous, tense. What's the matter?"

"Well, it's an issue with Marie."

"Mmmhmm, mmmhmm, what is the problem with her?" he asked, rubbing his chin.

"Well, she had a run-in with a bully, and she came running home crying. Nobody could talk to her but her boyfriend Edd. I don't understand why she was so upset. And why she didn't want me as her mother to talk to her." Barbara said.

"I see, well, she is a teenager. Now, in the teenage years, kids feel more compelled to mask emotions and true judgements in exchange for superficial and quick responding reactions. It is apparent that whatever this bully said really touched a deeper level of psyche with Marie. It wasn't just an insult. It was a verbal punch to her emotions. She didn't know quite how to react to it, therefore she reacted in the only way she could figure out at the time: to run and cry. It was one moment were she felt defenseless. She didn't see a way that she could win over the situation. Therefore she ran from it." Fr. Espicce said, putting his elbows on the desk and leaning over onto it.

"But what about the other part, where she wouldn't even talk to me? Why did she do that?"

"Well, I don't know your personal situation, but I do know that teenagers don't trust their parents. They see them as a barrier between them and their superficiality. Parents are more likely to bring out true emotions, which teenagers try to mask. Marie is just reacting as any teenage girl would. Also, she seems to not trust you as a person. For some reason she sees you more as a stranger than a mother. It seems the closest person to her right now seems to be Edward. Therefore she feels more compelled to share her feelings with him, a person who she has come to understand, rather than a person like you, who she feels is not that personally close to her."

"How do we become close. I don't understand, I've tried everything. What do I do?"

"First off, you need to establish a common bond. Find something the two of you have in common. Build on that. Create a growing branch out of that commonality. She will see you as more accepting of her, and she will like you more for it. Also, don't necesarrily try to be her friend. Believe it or not, teenagers don't like to see their parents as friends. It shows superficiality and ungeniune feelings. That is why Marie probably has developed a more deep relationship with your ex-husband. He is more than likely a more parental figure, therefore she shows a common respect for him. With you, well, she doesn't see that same type of command from you, therefore she doesn't see you as a mother figure."

"So I should be more domineering?" she asked.

"In a way, yes. You need to be more, more inclusive. Include her more in you life. She believes that you don't want her in your life. She doesn't think you have time for her. When you do have spare time, try to spend a little of it with her. She will see that you are making a sacrifice of your time to spend it with her. That will tell her that you respect her and that you appreciate the time that you do spend. If you do it only when you are forced to, she will feel like you are being compelled to spend it with her. Spend your time with her, and she will feel you are giving up your own time to be with her. She will feel thankful that you think of her her enough to do that. Right now, she doesn't feel like you think of her enough. She feels like since you are preoccupied with so many other things, you don't want to do anything with her."

"Why doesn't she listen to me?"

"Well, she possibly feels that you don't respect her judgements. Listen to her more. Listen to her opinions. Have her have a say-so in some things. Let her make some decisions. She probably feels left out it a lot of conversations. Have her make choices sometimes. Listen to what she has to say. She probably feels like her voice isn't important. The number one problem with most families is lack of communication. That is why she is so open and honest with Edd. She has communicated with him to the point where they have a full understanding of each other's emotions. If you communicate more, she will probably feel more open, as contemporary conversation will become common place. Right now she will feel awkward talking to you about things, because she never has before. She doesn't feel like you understand what she is going through. Tell her life lessons of how things were when you were her age. Tell her how you got through tuff times. She will find more common ground and see you as more than a parent. You will become a mentor. Someone not only to determine right from wrong, but how to get through life and how to deal with certain things. Only then will you're relationship become a maternal/saternal one. You have to give her hope. And I realize it isn't easy, but you have to do it. If not, she will never try to grow a relationship with you. Love is not what you say. Love is not what you think. Love is what you feel."

That last sentence nearly punctured her heart. It really made her think. Was Father Espicce really both a priest and a therapist? Or was he everything rolled up into one.

"Now, do you feel better about the situation?" he asked her.

"Yes, I have never felt so relieved in my life. You are a true assistant of God, Fr. Espicce." she said as she got up and went to sake his hand.

"Yes, well I am not just a priest. I act as a pycharitrist, a therapist, a philosipher, and lawyer all rolled up into one. And handshakes are only things I give men over 45 years of age. Come here." he said as he walked over and gave her a friendly hug. She tried not to, but she started crying. He patted her on the back and let go, giving her a Kleenex.

"Things will be better." he said, holding the door open for her and walking her to the front entrance, "You just have to be strong, and not worry. Worrying, stress, all of which is just a lack of faith."

"Oh I have plenty of faith. Faith is just believing in something happening right?" she asked, wiping her eyes.

"Oh no Barbara, faith is not just blind belief. Faith is trust in things out of your control. And trust is a powerful thing to have." he said as the went down the stairs and to the front door.

"Thank you so much Father, you are a true helper. I don't know what I could have done with out you."

"No thank you. It is just my duty. I was glad to help. And remember, love is not from the brain, or even the heart. Love is not something you can think or create. No one can create love. Love is something you always have. You just have to search your soul and find it. If the love is true, you will always find it." he said as he waved her goodbye, grinning. He closed the door and went back inside.

As Barbara walked back to the car, she thought about everything Fr. Espicce had said. She had never heard more truth from anyone.

She got in the car, a much more relieved and faithful person than when she had entered.


	29. Chapter XXIX

The song at the end of the chapter:

watch?v=ngZh6ZSRoYg

Chapter XXIX

When she got home, Rod was still sitting on the stoop, puffing on yet another Camel. He grinned as she pulled in and parked the car. As she got out, she tossed the keys back to him.

"So, where'd ya go?" he asked as he stood up to greet her.

"Well, let's just say I went and had a chat with a,...a,..."

"A what?" he asked.

"A professional." she finished with a grin.

"Well, as long as the car doesn't have a scratch, it's alright. Come on inside, Marie's finally up and motivated." he said as he threw his cigarette into the gravel and held the door open for her.

As the two stepped in, Marie, Lee, and May were sitting on the couch, talking amongst sisters. Marie seemed to have been cheered up quite a bit.

"Marie, honey," Barbara said as she slid over the Marie and picked her up in an embrace and squeezed her tight.

"Mom, are you okay?" Marie asked, a little concerned.

"Oh, I'm just fine, dear. And Lee, look at you! You're so beautiful!" she said as she grabbed Lee in a similar squeeze.

"Mom, you sure you're okay?" Lee asked again.

"I said I'm just fine! And May, you're so precious." as she again grabbed May also.

"Uh, hi mom?" May said.

Rod just stood there, scratching his head. He was a little unsure of what was going on.

Barbara stood back up. "You all are my truely special angels. Each and every one of you." she said, grinning.

"Uh, Barbara, are you alright?" Rod said, still scratching his head around.

"Oh, and Rodney, come here you!" she said as she flung him back and made out with him. The girls looked on with surprise, and excitement.

After a couple moments, the two stopped and Barbara just looked at Rod, smiling.

"Well, I guess that's one way to say hello." Rod said as he chuckled awkwardly.

"Hubba, hubba!" Lee called out. Everyone started laughing at this.

"Well," Rod said, looking down at his watch, "I've gotta go get ready for work. I'll be back down in a few minutes." he said as he diappeared up the stairs.

"So mom, where'd you go?" Marie asked, sitting up in the couch.

"Well," Barbara said, taking a seat in her chair, "I took your step-father's car out and went to the Catholic cathedral. I Confessed to Fr. Espicce and we talked about stuff for a little bit. It really got my mind cleared and going. It really got me thinkin' about how little I see you girls. I really ought to spend more time with you. I mean, I am your mother after all, aren't I?" she said.

"Well mom," Lee started, "we've always wanted to spend more time with you too. I guess we've never gotten the chance either. I mean, if you're not at work, you're asleep. And when you're not sleeping, you're workin'. We've always wanted you more in our lives. We love ya mom, and we need you. You and Rod both. You're our lives." Lee said.

"Well, from now on, things are gonna be different. I'm gonna try more. I'm gonna do more. I'm tired of not being there we you need me. From now on, I will be your real mom. Not just a woman who lives in the same house. And hopefully Rod will be a real father, not just a guy who shows up every now and then." Barbara said, getting emotional.

"See mom, that's what we've always wanted. It's what we've always wanted." Lee said, tearing up as all three sisters and Barbara got up and hugged each other. They were conversing and acting like a real family. Rod stood at the top of the stairs, freshly dressed into his night guard uniform.

"Don't I get a say in this?" he jokingly said as he looked down from the stairs.

"Get down here dad." Lee called. Rod felt like Dirty Harry had shot him with a .44 Magnum. Lee and Marie had never called him 'Dad' before. Always Rod. He felt ten feet tall as he walked down the stairs and joined in on the hug.

"Well, I better be headin' off. I'm gonna be late if I don't get there soon. Bye kids, bye honey." Rod said as he adjusted his tie and started to walk out the door.

"Bye dad." The three sisters rang out as they waved.

"Wait a minute mister, just hang on one minute." Barbara said smiling as she grabbed Rod for a minute. She embraced him and leaned into his ear.

"Thanks so much for having me back." she whispered.

"No problem." he said back. The two exchanged smiles as he headed out the door. The sky was gettng dark with gray clouds. Rain was in the forecast. But there was more rain in the forecast as well. A, a different kind of rain.

"Well girls, I'm gonna head up to my room for a little bit. Just call me if you need me." Barbara said as she headed up the stairs.

"Alright mom." Lee said. The three girls went outside for a moment, almost expecting something.

As Rod was riding down the street, he noticed the three Ed's walking up, heading toward the trailer.

"Hey boys, nice to see ya!" Rod called out as he rolled down his window and waved.

"Well, hello there Mr. Van Wilmer!" Double D called out as he walked up to the car. Eddy and Ed followed him.

"Hey boys, they're callin' for rain today, so watch out for it. Looks like a storm's comin' up now. You boys headin' for the girls." he asked.

"Yes sir, we're headin' there now." Eddy said.

"Alright boys, I'd love to stay and chat, but I gotta get goin', or I'm gonna be late for work. Have fun now." Rod said as he rolled the window back up and waved as he drove off. The Eds waved back, and they continued up the road. Once they got to the trailer, the Kankers were all standing around outside.

"Hey girls, hows about we head back to out places, so we can get comfortable, if ya know what I mean?" Eddy said as he twitched his eyebrows up and down a couple times.

"Hey girls look," Lee said, pointing toward the on-coming Eds, "It's our boyfriends!"

The girls ran up and grabbed their Eds. They started heading toward the cul-de-sac. Unknown what horrors lay in store.

In the cul-de-sac, Kevin, and Johnny with Plank were outside. Kevin was busy setting up a big loudspeaker with several amplifiers branching off from it. Johnny and Plank were basically being held hostage, and were at ht devices of Kevin and his borderline insanity. He started mumbling loudly, thought no one would be able to understand what he was saying. He plugged a microphone into the loudspeaker. He tested it with the feedback, getting everyone's attention in the process, which was exactly what he wanted. Sarah, Jimmy, and Rolf all gathered around, interested in the spectacle Kevin was putting.

"Kevin boy, what is the meaning of this boloney?" Rolf cried out, as Kevin was hooking things up on top of one of the tall amplifiers.

"Oh, Rolf, ahh ohho ahha offhoooh," Kevin said as he started babbling and spiting at the mouth.

"Sarah, why is Kevin acting like Anthony Perkins from _Pycho_, it's scaring me!" Jimmy squeeled as he hid his head into Sarah's shoulder.

"Hold on Jimmy, I'll get to the bottom of it." she said in a calm voice. "KEVIN, WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING!" Sarah screamed, as she usually does at Ed.

"Oh, just you wait, just you wait, mmmmhuwaahaaa." Kevin said as he started laughing manically.

Just as all this was happening, the Eds and Kankers were cresting over the hill and into the cul-de-sac. They too were interested byt he spectacle, and gattered around in front of the set-up.

"Oh, great, the dorks are in time for their own show! Splendid timing!"

"Kevin, you lame brain, what gives?" Eddy demanded.

"Shut up Eddy, this ain't got nuttin' to do with you. Double Dork, it has everything to do with you!" Kevin said, pointing at Double D and Marie. Double D started shaking badly, with a scared face.

"Marie, don't I got some news for you!" he said, jumping down from the amp.

"What the heck do you want, hat boy?" Marie demanded.

"Oh,I got lots to say. You know ole Double Dork and quite the boyfriend you think he is."

"What do you mean?" Marie said, interested in what he had to say.

"Well, let's just examine Exibit A, shall we. Let's let the evidence speak for itself!" Kevin said as he pushed a button on a remote control. Voices started to come out of the amplifiers.

"Oh, yeah it was fun. That's the only reason I did this anyway. For the sex. The sex was all. I just wanted to finally get laid. And that slut Marie was the only one willin' to fork it out. I never cared about her. I did it all for the sex. Sex, sex, sex!" a voice that sounded like Double D's came over the system.

Marie fell to her knees, fighting her tears. She started shouting, "Why, why!" loudly into the sky. She then started sobbing.

"Kevin, where the heck did you get this!" Eddy demanded, feeling something was not kosher about the whole situation.

"Oh, I got connections. That ain't nuttin' you need to worry about." Kevin said, laughing again. Eddy was ready to sock him one when the event happened.

Marie was still kneeling there, wailing as she had never wailed before. Double D walked over to talk to her.

"Marie, you have to understand, that wasn't-" he was cut off by her.

"Don't touch me, don't touch me! Don't talk to me! Don't look at me! I don't wanna ever see you again, you scumbag! I HATE YOU!" Marie cried out as she started sobbing madly and ran off for the trailer park.

"Hey Marie, wait up, wait up!" Lee called out as her and May went to chase her down.

Double D fell to his knees, and started sniffling and a tear ran down his cheek and hit the pavement like a tsunami wave.

"Double D, hang on, don't-" Eddy started as he and Ed walked up to him.

"Leave me alone. JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!" he screamed to the top of his lungs and ran into his house, slamming and bolting the door shut. He was sobbing horribly.

Eddy thought for a minute.

"Wait a minute everybody, Double D has never talked like that before. It sounds just like..." Eddy said as he turned around. Kevin had disappeared, and there was no trace of him anywhere. He had gotten away when everyone was distracted with Marie and Double D. All that was left was a note hanging on the tall amplifier that had wrote on it, "Jonny did it" in bad handwriting. Eddy walked up to read the note, as everybody else read it from afar.

Eddy turned back with an exremely angry face and screamed "GET HIM!" as he pointed and Johnny, who was standing in the corner, trying to paint himself into it.

"GET HIM!" Rolf, Ed, Sarah, and Jimmy yelled as they jumped on Johnny and Plank, tying them up.

"Take him to my basement for questioning!" Ed called out as he pointed toward his house.

"To the basement!" Everyone chanted as the started pushing and pulling him to the basement window.

"I'm just a patsy I tell ya! A patsy! A scapegoat! A patsy! A red herringggggg!" Johnny faded out as he was stuffed into the basement window, and everyone followed into it. Ed closed and locked the window after everyone was inside.

Back at Double D's house, he ran up to his room and slammed the door. Thunder boomed outside and lightning flashed as the rain started pouring. Double D was sobbing madly into his pillow, uncontrollably. He couldn't feel more horrible than he did. After a few minutes of wailing, he got up and went over to his turntable. He ripped off the record he had planned on playing for Marie and threw it across the room. He put on a different record instead, and put the needle on as he laid back down on his bed and burried his sobs into his pillow. Night was falling on the cul-de-sac, and tomorrow would begin a new day.

_Ahhhhhhhhhhh_

_I don't have plans and schemes_

_And I don't have hopes and dreams_

_I don't have anything,_

_Since I don't have you_

_I don't have fallen desires_

_And I don't have happy hours_

_I don't have anything,_

_Since I don't have you._

_I don't have happiness,_

_And I guess,_

_I never will ever again._

_When you walked out on me,_

_In walked your misery._

_And it's been here since then._

_Oh, I don't have love to share,_

_and I don't have one who cares._

_I don't have anything,_

_since I don't, have,..._

_you-oo_

_you-oo_

_you-oo_

_you-oo_

_you-oo_

_you-oo_

_you-oo_

_you-oo_

_you-oo_

_you-oo_

_you-oo_

_you-oo_

_you-oo_

_you-oooooooooo-oooo._


	30. Chapter XXX

Song at the begininng of the chapter:  
watch?v=Xb9QD0CHT3c

Song at the end:  
watch?v=7Ar-fHMwm_A

Chapter XXX

_[Rooster crows]_

_Here comes the morning sun_

_It's another day._

_But today, I'm on my own._

_It's my first day alone,_

_It's my first day alone._

_Why did I lose my love?_

_Mine till yesterday._

_Who's the only love I've known_

_It's my first day alone._

_It's my first day alone._

_I can live without so many things,_

_They're so unimportant to me._

_But can I live without a love that's everything?_

_I'll have to wait and see..._

_I know I'll see the sun,_

_Bring me other days._

_But will I be so on my own,_

_As my first day alone?_

_This my first day alone..._

The sun peaked over the cul-de-sac as the next day began. As the sun peared through his bedroom window, it woke Double D up. He hadn't really "slept" at all that night. On and off, tossing and turning, crying and sobbing would be a more appropriate description. He still couldn't get over it. He kept trying to tell himself it was all a bad dream, but reality has a way of telling you it wasn't.

Rod was driving down the road, completely unaware of what had happened. For all he knew, everything was still the same. It wasn't of course, but he did not know that. Barbara didn't either, because she was fast asleep when the girls got there and was gone for work by the time they were up. When Rod pulled up to the trailer, he put the car into park and hopped out. Going through the door, the meloncholy atmosphere hit him like a ton of bricks. Lee and May were sitting on the couch, looking at the ground. The television wasn't on, and the room was completely silent. Rod's smile immediately turned into a blank expression and the pep in his step turned into a slow moving walk. He took off his jacket and hung it on the coatrack next to the door, not saying anything. He then moved slowly over to the couch and looked at the girls.

"Girls, what's the matter? Somethin's not right here." Rod said, standing in front of them. They just continued looking at the ground for a few minutes, before Lee finally spoke up.

"Somethin' major happened last night. Somethin' real major." Lee said in a grave voice.

"Well, what was it?" he asked, anxious to hear. He just hoped it wasn't too severe.

"You'd better take a seat first." Lee said, pointing to the chair behind him. Rod sat down, leaning forward, and rubbing his hands together.

"Alright, now tell me, what happened?" he said in a demanding tone.

"Well, last night, we were all headin' back to the Ed's neighborhood, when one of their pyscho neighbors started doing something. He pulled out this audio of Double D's voice saying derogitory things about Marie." Lee said, swallowing hard afterwards.

"What, Double D said derogitory stuff about Marie? When? Where?" he said, getting angry.

"Hold up a minute dad, just hold up. The whole point is Double D didn't say those things. But somehow that kid came up with the audio. We don't know how. I'm sure Eddy and Ed are on top of it. But Marie broke up with Double D, and she's been constantly crying ever since. It really broke her heart, and she said some strong words to him. She's locked herself in her room, and she's still crying." Lee said, pointing to the bedroom door. Rod got up and went to the door, putting his ear to the wood and cupping his hand around it to trap the sound. Indeed, she was in her room, still sobbing. Rod sighed and went back to his chair. He took out a cigarette and light it up. It was the first time he had smoked in the house.

"Damn that punk!" he said, standing up once again. He started pacing around the room. "Double D didn't deserve this, and neither does Marie!" he said, drawing in a puff of nicotine, "I'm gonna get to the bottom of this if it's the last thing I do. This is ridiculous hooliganism. To the highest degree. Marie has put up with too much and gotten too far to lose her happiness that quick. Who is he, what's his name?" he demanded.

"Johnny, I think?" May said, unsure, since the note that was left smeared any real evidence.

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see how this turns out. But those two need each other. With them apart, things are just gonna go to hell. There has to be a way to fix this. Is she willing to talk to anybody?" Rod asked, leaning against the wall, puffing his cigarette once again.

"Nope, she's not talkin'. And this time we can't get Double D to talk to her." Lee said, sighing.

"I wouldn't say that. Maybe if she comes to her sences a little, it won't be so hard to do. We just gotta do a little work. But it can work, if we put in the effort." Rod said, flicking his ashes into a glass of water, "Does your mother know?"

"Not that I'm aware of. She was asleep when we got here, and left before we got up. I don't think she does, unless she has ESP." Lee replied.

"I wouldn't doubt that she does, but I'll call her later. But you guys don't need to worry about that right now. I'll handle the adult part. You guys handle the teenager part. Nothin' happened bewteen you guys and your Eds, right?" he asked, drawing in yet another puff.

"No, we're still fine." May answered.

"Good. So listen up." Rod said, drawing in the two girls close, "you guys and Ed and Eddy get Double D to come over. Hopefully Marie will come to her senses by then, and we'll play a little matchmaker. It's as simple as that." Rod said, sitting back down.

"So, can we go see them now?" Lee asked, standing up with May.

"Yeah, sure, run along. I'll call your mother and tell her about it. Just go over there and get the guys. I'll handle the rest." Rod said, as he was heading over to the phone.

"Alright, bye dad." Lee said as her and May headed over to the door.

"Yeah, bye dad." May said.

"Alright, see ya girls." he said, waving.

They went out the door, en route to the cul-de-sac.

While all that was happening, a great many things were happening in Ed's basement. After dragging Johnny in, he fell asleep. It was his only defense. Sarah and Jimmy went home right after that. Rolf left after about an hour or so, leaving only Eddy and Ed. They had stayed awake all night, waiting for Johnny to get up. Finally, around eight o'clock that morning, he finally woke up. Ed and Eddy were on the verge of sleep themselves, and an auto-drip Mr. Coffee was the only differnce between sanity and insanity for them.

"Finally baldy, we've been waitin' all night! Now tell us, how'd you do it!" Eddy demanded, swigging coffee from his mug.

"I'm tellin' ya for the last time, Eddy, I didn't do anything. I'm a patsy! Just a patsy! Now let me go!"

"So, if you didn't do it, who did?" Eddy asked, almost sarcastic in his expressing.

"I don't know if I can tell you, unless you promise that you don't tell a single soul in this cul-de-sac." Johnny said, whispering into Eddy's ear.

"Sure, fine, I don't care, just tell us who did it!" Eddy said.

"It was, it was,..." Johnny leaned in a whispered softly, "Kevin."

"Kevin?" Eddy asked. Johnny just nodded in agreement.

"I knew it! That no good punk Kevin! So, how'd he do it?" Eddy asked, lips smacking and hands rubbing together, ready to prepare his argument agaisnt Kevin.

"I don't know." Johnny said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"What do ya mean you don't know?" Eddy asked as he grabbed Johnny's shoulders.

"Just like I said, I'm a patsy. I was the one who took the fall for him." Johnny said.

"I just don't understand! Why would you take a fall for Kevin? He's always hated you. Heck, he hates everybody. There is no sane reason why anybody would do anything that nice for him." Eddy said, rubbing his chin.

"H brbd m." Johnny half-mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Eddy asked, cupping his hand to his ear.

Johnny just repeated the mumble, only a little louder.

"Sorry Johnny, couldn't hear ya, what was that?" Eddy said, leaning into Johnny's mouth with his ear.

"He bribed me, okay!" Johnny screamed and nearly knocked Eddy over.

"He bribed you? I knew their had to be a catch somewhere. How'd he bribe ya?" Eddy asked.

"He blackmailed me." Johnny said.

"Whoa-ho. Blackmail? I didn't think Kevin was that smart. What'd he blackmail you for? Embarrasing picture? Plank? Secret hideout under the oak tree?" Eddy asked.

"A crush." Johnny mumbled.

"A crush!" Eddy exclaimed, "Who could the never-ending forehead have a crush on? Jimmy?" Eddy said, slightly insulting him.

"Sarah." Johnny mumbled, looking at the ground.

"Who?" Eddy asked.

"Sarah!" Johnny said.

"Sarah? Ha-ha-ha," Eddy said, as he and Ed started lauging uncontrollably.

"Hey, shut up!" Johnny demanded, "she's hot!"

"Oh God, oh God, that is too much!" Eddy said as he started laughing even harder before.

"Oh, that was good!" Eddy said as he stopped laughing. "Alright Ed, Johnny's story checks out. You can let 'em go. Even Kevin's red herring can't swim.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Johnny said, hugging Eddy's legs.

"Yeah sure, now get off of me! And take your twig with ya." Eddy said, point to Plank, who was laying on Ed's bed.

"Come on Plank, let's get outta here." Johnny said as he hopped through the window.

"Alright Ed, let's go get that weasel Kevin." Eddy said, climbing through the window.

"But Eddy, how are we going to do that? He's pretty crafty." Ed replied as he followed him out the window.

"Oh don't worry lumpy, where there's a will, there's a way!" Eddy said, heading toward Kevin's house.

"Roger dodger, roger." Ed said as he followed.

The two went over to Kevin's house and looked throught his window. They saw him in his room, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Alright Ed, here's the plan, we climb up that tree, and swing through Kevin's window, got it?" Eddy said.

"Got it." Ed replied.

The two went up the tree and they jumped from the longest branch and crashed through Kevin's window. Nearly having a heart attack, Kevin flew into the floor and let out a scream.

"It's gonna hit the presses, Kevy boy. We caugth you red handed!" Eddy said, as he and Ed got up off the floor.

"What the heck are you dorks doin' in my house?" Kevin demanded, dusting off his shirt.

"We are here to set the record straight. Now, we need answers, and we need em fast." Eddy demanded.

"I'm not givin' you crap!" Kevin said, prceeding to leave through the door.

"Ed," Eddy said, snapping his finger, "get 'im." Ed jump straight on top of Kevin and tied him up tight with some of the rope they used for Johnny.

"Let me go dorks, let me go!" Kevin demanded.

"Not until we get answers!" Eddy said, "Now tell us, how and why'd you do it?"

"I don't know what you're talkin' about!"

"Oh really, I think ole Johnny boy has a different take on that story. Your little Patsy let the ole cat outta the bag. The secrets out, and so are you." Eddy told him.

"Darn that bald headed squeeler!" Kevin muttered. "What do you wanna know?" Kevin said.

"How'd ya do it?" Eddy asked.

"Pretty simple. I just broke into Double D's room one day when he was not there. I stole all his bugging equipment, his voice recreater, and some other stuff. I bugged his house, Ed's basement, and the trailer. I used it to find out what was goin' on. Then there was that night where you all went out to the A&W." Kevin said.

"Yeah, we did. Wait, how'd you know that?" Eddy asked.

Kevin simple ripped off his hat, wiped his hair around with his hand, and slid it back. He sat there giggling.

"Remember me?" he asked using the voice recreator, still giggling.

"Wait a minute,.." Eddy said. It all came back to him now. It was that red-haired kid he had raced on the sidewalk.

"It was you the whole time!" Eddy cried out, pointing at him.

"Surprise, surprise Eddy! It was me. I did it all. I was the kid who raced you. I was the kid who made fun of Marie. It was all me!" Kevin said as he stated his psycho laughter.

"Wait, a minute, how'd you-"

"Like I said, I had everywhere bugged. I could always figure out where you'd be. I was always one step ahead. One step ahead!"

"But what about last night, and the-"

Kevin picked up the voice recreator and spoke into it again, and this time a voice similar to Double D's came out as he said, "right here, this is how I did it right here!" He placed it back down on the bed. "You know, that dork amazes me sometimes with the crap he invents. Sure did help me." he said with an evil grin

"Why Kevin, why'd ya do it?" Eddy cried.

"Why? Why? Why do you think why? Remember two weeks ago, the fight outside, Double D beat me up? Think. I had to plot my revenge. I had to win back my title. I was the coolest guy around. Than that no good nerd came and stole all my glory! He was finally happier than I ever was! He had a girl who loved him, good friends, and respect from everybody! That's why I did it! And after I did it, everybody just hates me even more!" Kevin said as he curled up in a corner and started to cry.

"I know you probably expect me to feel sorry for you, but you're sadly mistaken. You did this all to yourself. You should have seen the writing on the wall earlier than this. Come on Ed, let's let him cry in vain. I feel no remorse." Eddy said as he climbed out the window.

"Yeah, me neither." Ed said as he followed.

Right after the two girls left, Rod dialed up Barbara. She was on here 15 minute break, and didn't have long to talk.

"Hello." Rod said.

"Rod, is that you?" Barbara asked, shocked.

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, somethin' bad has happened." he said, leaning into the phone.

"What?" she asked.

"Marie broke up with Double D. I can't explain right now, but I will when you get home. Marie's been crying for 10 straight hours. She won't talk to anybody. I don't know what else to do."

After a minute pause, Barbara responded, "see you when I get home." she said, and hung up. Rod didn't know quite how to take that.

After hanging up, Barbara dialed up Fr. Espicce on her cell phone. When it picked up, it was the parish secretary.

"How may I help you?" the woman asked.

"Yes, I need to speak with Fr. Espicce." Barbara said.

"I'm sorry, I don't know if Fr. Espicce is available right now, can you take a message?" she asked. Just as she asked that, Fr. Espicce walked into the office. The woman talked to him.

"Father, there's a woman on the phone, she wants to speak with you."

"Who is it, I'm kinda busy right now." He responded.

"Who am I speaking to." the woman asked Barbara over the phone.

"Barbara Kanker." she responded.

"It's Barbara Kanker, Father." the woman told him.

"Barbara Kanker, give me that phone!" he said as he grabbed it away from her, "Ms. Kanker, what is the issue?" he asked.

"Oh, hello Father, it is Marie and Double D. They've broke up and now both of them are miserable." she said.

"My word," he responded, "Are they okay?"

"Not really. I think you will probably be the only one to be able to help this." she said.

"Well, I can try. But I can't gurantee anything. Listen, I am busy today, but I will be able to come over tomorrow. I will try to speak to them both induvidually, and get some sense into them. Now if you'll excuse me Ms. Kanker, I have someone I myself need to call. Godspeed." he said as he laid the phone down.

"What's wrong?" the secretary said.

"No time, gotta run." he said as he headed down the hall and into his office. He sat down and pulled out his card of important numbers. He found the one he was looking for and dialed it up.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Hello, yes, Colonel Moore, this is Fr. Espicce." he responded.

"Father, what do you need?" Col. Moore said, concerned.

"Colonel, normally I would not call you, but on such circumstances I think it's important. It's a problem with Edward." he said.

"What is it?" Col. Moore responded, very concerned now.

"It's a problem with a girlfriend. They-" he was cut off by Col Moore.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Col. Moore said as he hung up. Fr. Espicce put his phone back on the base.

"Oh my." he said, putting his forhead into his palm, "May God have mercy on us all." he said in a grave voice, slipping his glasses off.

After all the telephone calling, everyone in Double D and Marie's world was feeling the pain. And they all intended to do something.

_Callin' all angels,_

_Callin' all angels,_

_Callin' all angels whooo-ooo_

_Callin' all angels,_

_Callin' all angels,_

_Callin' all angels woo._

_There's trouble in Paradise,_

_My turtledove's taken wings._

_There's trouble in Paradise,_

_The birds no longer sing._

_Some devil told my angel_

_A lot of lies_

_And now my tears are fallin'_

_Like raindrops from the sky._

_There's trouble in Paradise,_

_The stars no longer shine_

_There's trouble in Paradise,_

_Cause she's no longer mine,_

_That devil told my angel_

_I was untrue._

_Won't somebody help me please,_

_tell me what to do..._

_Mr. Moon, Mr. Sun,_

_Tell her she's the only one._

_Guide her with your lovely light_

_Back into my arms tonight._

_There's trounble in Paradise,_

_And heaven's not the same,_

_The angels sit and cry,_

_They say it's such a shame._

_They'd like our love to be,_

_just like before._

_Then the trouble in Paradise_

_will be no more..._


	31. Chapter XXXI

The song mentioned in the chapter:

watch?v=hVgLnLtVe4I

The first full song in the chapter:

watch?v=vEa-0aMH2bk

The song at the end of the chapter:

watch?v=cQrgeeS_qbo

Chapter XXXI

Eddy and Ed were on their way from Kevin's yard to Double D's house. You could still hear Kevin's crying and maniacal laughter all the way in the yard.

"Is that guy looney tunes or what Ed?" Eddy said, jabbing Ed with his elbow.

"He has gone fishin' Eddy." Ed replied as the two of them laughed as the went up to Double D's front door. Eddy rang the door bell several times.

"You think he's home?" Eddy asked.

After several more rings, with still no answer.

"What gives?" Eddy asked. Ed just shrugged his shoulders.

"Some help you are." Eddy replied. He went to twist the door knob and it twisted fully.

"It's open." Eddy replied. He opened the door and the two went in the door way and closed the door behind them. The house was very quiet. The stillness was terrifying. The sunlight only penetrated certain sections of the windows that were neither covered with blinds nor drape. The darkness created an eerie feeling with in the walls of the house.

"See anything, Ed?" Eddy asked as they started walking through the family room. But from up the stairs they could here the slight sound of music coming from a room.

"Hey Ed, I hear music up the stairs, lets go check it out." Eddy said as he and Ed started up the stairs.

As they headed down the hallway, the music grew louder and louder. They could also hear sobs coming from the same source as the music. They followed the two sounds until they stumbled upon Double D's door.

"He's in there alright." Eddy said, for the music and sobbing both were at their loudest at the door. The song that was playing was _Bye Bye Love_ by the Everly Brothers.

Eddy knocked a few times on the wood.

"Double D, Double D, you okay?" he asked.

Finally after several more minutes, a voice responded,

"Eddy, is that you?" Double D asked from behind the wood, having taken off the record and stopped his crying.

"Yeah Double D, it's me and Ed. Is everything okay?" Eddy asked through the door.

"I am afraid to tell you other wise." Double D said.

"Well, can we come in?" Eddy asked.

"Oh, well, certainly, come in please." Double D said as he held the door open for Ed and Eddy. The two went in and sat down on Double D's neatly made bed. Double D took a seat at his desk chair and faced his two friends.

"Double D, you won't believe it, but Kevin is the one behind all this. He did everything." Eddy said, trying to cheer Double D up. Double D had stopped crying by now. He had gained at least a slight bit of composure. However his attitude and general mood were quite melancholy. He did not smile, nor did his expression even regard to any earthly emotion. If there could be a perfect poker face, this would have been it. It was if every one of his emotions had been drained out, and what was left was what he was feeling.

"I was aware that Johnny was the perpetrator." Double D responded.

"Nah, he was just a patsy. A red herring. He was just blackmailed by Kevin to take the fall. He's as innocent as the rest of us. Kevin is the real criminal here. You won't even believe what he did." Eddy replied.

"And what was that." Double D said indifferently.

"He took and broke in your house, stole some of your bugging equipment, and more importantly stole whatever that voice recreator thing was. That's what he used to fake your voice when-" before he could finish, Double D had started whimpering once more. After a few seconds, he started full out sobbing. He couldn't hide his emotions anymore. They poured out as he sobbed. Eddy and Ed got up and tried to console their emotion-stricken friend by dragging him over to the bed and lying him down on it.

"There," Eddy said, "he can get some rest now." He and Ed took seats. Eddy grabbed the chair Double D had been sitting on and Ed pulled up another chair and sat down next to Eddy. Double D just rolled over on his side, facing the wall, and cried silently.

"Boy he's really upset." Eddy said to himself as he shook his head.

Coming down the hill and into the cul-de-sac were the two Kanker sisters.

"Where do you think they're at?" May asked Lee as they headed down the road.

"Probably Double D's house. They're probably tryin' to help him out right now." Lee said.

"Well which one is it?" May asked, looking around.

"I think it's this one." Lee said, pointing toward the correct one.

The two walked up to the house and stood at the door for several seconds.

"I guess their home." Lee said.

"Well why don't you ring the door bell Lee, instead of takin' forever!" May said impatiently.

"Alright, alright, you'll get to make goo-goo eyes at Ed in a minute, now just hold on!" Lee said. She reached over and touched the door bell several times, in a repetitive fashion.

In the house, Eddy heard a slight noise, which of course was the doorbell ringing.

"Ed, do you hear that?" Eddy asked.

"What Eddy?" Ed responded.

"That dinging noise, do you hear it too?"

"Oh, yeah, that is the door bell Eddy. Silly head."

"Well then, let's go answer it lumpy!" Eddy told him

The two Eds went down the stairs and to the door. Lee kept ringing it repetitively.

"Alright, alright, have an aneurism why don't ya!" Eddy said as he twisted the knob and slid the door open. In front of them stood Lee and May, with their hands on their hips.

"Oh, hey girls, what's up?" Eddy said, as the two walked in the room and closed the door behind them.

"All right hunk, spill it; what happened?" Lee demanded from Eddy, after hugging him for a minute.

"Well, uh, e-hem," Eddy said, clearing his throat, "I think you better come over here and sit down first." he said. Lee grabbed his hand and May grabbed Ed's as they walked into the family room and sat down on the long couch. Eddy and Ed told them the details about everything, including Johnny, Kevin, the grand theft inventions, and the breaking and entering.

"So, that Kevin was behind it all along?" Lee asked.

"That's right. All along. And he's washed his hands of the whole situation. He's officially gone off his rocker. I don't think he was ever fully on to begin with, pullin' of a stunt like this. Just sayin'" Eddy said.

"Where's Double D at now?" May asked,

"He's up in his room, cryin' his heart out. I've never seen 'im this depressed. Ever." Eddy replied.

"Eddy listen, Rod was tellin' us some stuff, and he said to bring Double D over there to the trailer. He said maybe they'll come to their senses when they see each other again." Lee said.

"Sure, I'm willin' to try anything at this point." Eddy said. "Come on Ed, let's go gather up the lover boy. We've got work to do.

When they came back down the stairs, Ed had Double D flung over his shoulders. He was still crying madly. Lee and May were a little shocked at first, but having heard Marie wail for the last 10 hours, they were pretty desensitized to it by now. The 5 headed out for the trailer park.

When they got there, Lee held the door open as they all quietly walked in and gathered in the living room. Double D had even stopped crying. The sound of Marie's sobs were still loud as ever, however. Rod walked in the room and gathered everyone in a huddle.

"Alright, Double D, I want you to go with Lee to the door," he whispered, "alright, Lee, you will make an excuse for Marie to come to the door and open it. After that, Double D, you go in for the kill. Alright, let's do this." he said as they broke and scattered. Ed and Eddy hid in the kitchen. May went and plopped down on the couch, and Rod went into the kitchen with the other two Eds. Lee and Double D walked up to the bedroom door, almost in a tip toe.

"Alright Double D, follow my lead." Lee whispered as she began to knock on the door.

"Marie, oh Marie, come to the door." she said.

"Go away!" Marie shouted from within the room, "I don't wanna!"

"I got a new box of Twinkies." Lee chanted.

"Twinkies?" Marie said as she stopped the crying. She walked up to the door and cracked it open, the full slack of the chain lock. Double D stuck his head in and smiled at her.

"Marie, oh Marie!" he started in an elegant voice. However, Marie started to tear up again and slammed the door in his face, nearly breaking his jawbone as she ran back to her bed.

"I told you I don't ever want to see you again, you creep!" she wailed.

"Marie, Marie, it wasn't me that said those things. Come on you gotta believe me! I love you with all my heart, Marie. You are my only love. And my love for you only grows stronger everyday. Oh please believe me Marie!" Double D shouted as his face slid down the front of the door.

"That was your voice, and I heard it clear as day! You never loved me, never. Now get away before I get crazy!" she wailed one last time.

Double D couldn't do anything but lay there and sob as well. He wailed as loud as she was.

_(Please tell me whyyyyyyy!) _

_Tell me whyyy._

_Why don't you believe me?_

_It's you I adore,_

_Forever and ever._

_Can I promise more?_

_I've told you so often,_

_The way that I feel._

_Why don't you believe me?_

_It just isn't fair. _

_Here is a heart that is lonely._

_Here is a heart you can take._

_Here is a heart for you only. _

_That you can keep, or break!_

_How else can I tell you?_

_What more can I do?_

_Why don't you believe me?_

_I love only you…_

_Why don't you believe me?_

_I love only you…_

_(Please tell me whyyyyyy!") _

_Tell me why….._

"I'm so sorry it didn't work out Double D. We're gonna hafta think of somethin' else." Rod said, as everyone gathered back into the living room. "Maybe tomorrow would be a better day. I think this day has taken its toll on us all. Ed, Eddy, why don't you go ahead and carry Double D back home, you guys need some rest. It's been a long day." Rod said, taking in a sharp inhale.

"Let's go Ed." Eddy said. Ed grabbed Double D and they exchanged goodbyes with their girlfriends. As Lee embraced Eddy, she said something extra.

"Don't give up. We can do something." She said.

"I know. I know." Eddy said as they walked out of the trailer. They took Double D back to his house and dropped him off in his bed.

When they closed the door and went their separate ways, Eddy and Ed talked for a bit.

"See ya Eddy. I guess we can try again." Ed said, walking to his house.

"Tomorrow's always another day, Lumpy!" Eddy said as he walked back to his house.

In his room, Double D was still sobbing away. For now he was even worse feeling than before. He had settled it in his mind that his and Marie's love would never be again, since she wouldn't have him back. The sobbing just wouldn't stop.

_I was alright, for a while,_

_I could smile for a while._

_But I saw you last night,_

_You held my hand so tight,_

_As you stopped to say hello._

_You wished me well, _

_You couldn't tell_

_That I've been crying over you,_

_Crying over you_

_And you said so long_

_And left me standing_

_All alone and crying._

_Crying, crying, crying. _

_It's hard to understand,_

_But the touch of your hand, _

_Can start me crying._

_I thought that I was over you,_

_But it's true, so true._

_I love you even more_

_Then I did before. _

_But Darling what can I do? _

_For you don't love me!_

_And I'll always be…_

_Crying over you_

_Crying over you. _

_Yes, now you're gone,_

_And from this moment on,_

_I'll be crying. _

_Crying, crying, crying, _

_Yeah crying!_

_Crying…_

_Over…_

_You!_


	32. Chapter XXXII

Chapter XXXII

The next morning came without much more happiness than the day before. Double D got up, but saw no reason to get out of the bed or even clean the house. He couldn't find it in his soul to do anything. Having been emotionaly drained, he couldn't really feel anything.

Back at the trailer, not much was different. Marie was finally sleeping. Rod was in the kitchen, sitting at the table, drinking coffee. Lee and May were asleep on the couch, for Marie had the beroom door locked. Ms. Kanker had to work late that night, so she would be back around 7:30. Nobody really felt like doing much of anything. Rod was just hunched over his coffee, thinking.

Almost as if right on time, Ms. Kanker walked into the house around 7:30. She was careful not to wake any of the girls up. She walked into the kitchen and saw Rod sitting there. He didn't sleep at all last night, and still had the same clothes on as the day before. He had a mess of stubble on his face, and he just looked down at his coffee with his baggy eyes. Barbara grabbed a seat across from him at the table and sat down. The two just exchanged looks for awhile.

"How's she holdin' up?" she asked him.

"Well, she's finally asleep. She was up crying up until about one o'clock this morning. I haven't got any sleep at all. I've drunk about 13 pots of coffee since eight o'clock last night when they left." he said, taking another long sip of the coffee with both hands shakingly carrying the mug to his mouth.

"Since who left?" Barbara asked.

"The Eds. I came up with this idiot idea that Marie would come to her senses and make up. But oh was I wrong. In fact I just think I made it worse, I don't know." he resonded.

"Well, you ought to have known that she isn't gonna talk to anybody. After I talked to you on the phone yesterday, I called up Fr. Espicce. Hopefully he will come over today and try to help. He's the only one I know who could talk any sense into either of them. He always knows the right things to say at the right time. Hopefully he can pull some tricks out of his sleeves and help out." Barbara said, sighing.

"I just don't understand, Barbara. This whole thing has just got to me. It really has gotten under my skin. I just wanna take that punk who did it and then blamed Double D and smack the shit out of 'im. He really deserves a kick in the ass and a smack in the head, after all he did. I just don't understand." he said, taking another sip of coffee.

"I don't think any of us do. You're not the only one who is feelin' the effects of this. It just isn't fair. Those two had so much. I've never seen a more happy and lovely couple. For it all to be shot down like this, it really makes me question a lot of things. I just don't know either. It's a real confusing situation. I just think Marie needs someone who is trained to help people out to tell her some reason. I think Fr. Espicce is just that person." she said, getting up out of the chair. She went and got a mug and poured herself a cup of coffee. She walked back and returned to her seat.

"13 pots, huh?" she asked him, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, 13 pots. Probably more than that. I lost count after 5 AM. I've been through 3 cans of coffee." he said, smiling.

"3 cans? What do you mean three cans? It only takes a couple scoops for a whole pot." she responded in a shocked tone.

"Just taste the coffee and find out." he said, still grinning. She went to take a sip and would have liked to spit it all back out.

"Oh my God, how can you drink it like this? It has to be the strongest coffee I've ever tasted. Forget the mugs, you're gonna have to get out some plates and slice this stuff up!" she exclaimed, pushing the mug over to him.

"Yeah, you know I like my coffee strong. I fill up the whole filter to the top. I like it like that. Knowing me, I need to have it that strong. I wouldn't recommend over a pot of that stuff a day. Probably not good for ya." he said, laughing at her reaction to it.

"Then why do you drink so much of it?" she exclaimed.

"Because my body's used to it. I have drank so much of it like that over the years that I just expect it like that. For instance, if I have coffee made with the usual amount of coffee, I think it just tastes like water. I like my coffee strong and black. Always have." he said, taking another sip.

"Did you go in to work last night?" she asked him.

"No, I called in. I've got plenty of vacation time left. I couldn't just leave the house. I don't know what would happen if I weren't here with Marie. She might do something." he said in a concerned voice.

"You don't actually think that she would-" Barbara started.

"I haven't ruled it out. It is certainly a possiblity, with how depressed she is over it. However, I would worry more about Double D doing it, than her." he responded.

"Is he takin' it hard?"

"Real hard. It was hard to even look at him yesterday. He tried everything he could to talk to Marie yesterday, but she took and slammed the door right into his right cheek. She nearly broke his jawbone. And after all that, he still kept trying to tell her how much he loved her. Now, that takes a serious lover to do something like that. To go through all that, and still have the same love as he did before, he must be deeply in love with her."

"I feel so bad for him," Barbara said, "he's such a sweet gentleman. To see him end up like this, well, it affects me. I just hope someone has told his own parents. Where ever they are. If he even has any."

"What do his parents do?" he asked her. He had never even considered thinking about his parents before. He just assumed they were like other parents.

"His dad is a colonel in the Air Force and his mom is a traveling law scientist." Marie said in a blank voice as she walked into the kitchen and stood in the entrance way, still madly affected by depression. It was apparent she had been listening to the entire conversation.

"Marie, honey, come here and talk to us." Rod said as he got up and moved toward her with Barbara. However, she just took and ran back to her room, slamming and locking the door.

"I wonder what all that was about?" Rod said as they returned to the kitchen table.

"Hard to say really." she responded.

"I just hope someone has told at least his dad what happened." she said.

"Military man, never would have guessed that. He must be a pretty tough GI Joe type of guy then. I don't know if he'd be able to help Double D any." he said.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see." Barbara said, sighing.

"I guess you're right." Rod responded, taking in a sharp inhale and exhale.

Back at Double D's house, Double D had finally gotten motivation enough to get up and take a shower. Afterwards, though, he still couldn't get motivated enough to clean and straigten out his room. He just returned down to the family room, and remembered all the good times he and Marie had down there. All the secret telling. All the hugging, all the kissing. Double D couldn't find his way to cry anymore. He had simply run out of tears. He just sat there on the couch, in the quiet, pondering. It was about noon now, and the clouds had thickened outside. The sky was a dull gray overcast. The temperature was a comfortable 70 degrees.

After roughly 15 minutes of just sitting there, Double D heard a car pull up outside. He didn't think much of it at first, figuring it was just one of the neighbors. He just sighed, but then he heard echoing footsteps from dress shoes hit the concrete as someone was coming up the sidewalk. He then heard steps coming up on the stoop infront of the house. He was reassured when he heard a couple knocks on the hard wood of the door.

"I wonder who that could be?" he asked himself as he slowly got up and sluggisly limped over to the front door. It knocked a couple more times, before Double D pulled all the locks out and opened it. He saw a man in black standing there. It was Fr. Espicce. He had on his black pants, shirt, dress jacket, and his white Roman Collar, which was just exposed slightly in the middle of the shirt collar, signature of most Jesuit priests. His white hair blew a little in the slight breeze and his round glasses were situated on his pointed nose. He looked down at Double D with a face the way a grandfather would look at his grandson.

"Oh, Father Espicce, what a pleasent surprise!" Double D said, as he flipped the lights on in the family room. "come in please."

"Hello Edd. I am very concerned about this whole situation." he said, walking in, and closing the door behind him. He followed Double D into the family and sat down in a chair facing Double D.

"Can I get you anything, Father?" Double D asked.

"No, I am fine for right now, but thank you for asking." Fr. Espicce responded. "I'm here to talk to you about this whole break-up situation." he said, letting out a slow-releasing sigh.

"Oh, whatever could you be talking about, Father?" Double D said, acting like he had no idea what he was speaking of.

"I believe you know quite well." Fr. Espicce replied in a stern voice.

"Oh, yes, the break up." Double D now responded, having heard the stern voice of Fr. Espicce, "I don't know how quite to explain it Father, it happened so fast. I just don't know." he said, letting out a sigh of his own.

"You have to remember at least some of it. Now tell me, what caused the whole break-up?" Fr. Espicce asked, leaning in to hear.

"Well, we all were coming back to our houses, when one of our neighbors had set up this elaborate system of aucoustics here in the cul-de-sac. He played this recording to Marie of something that sounded like my voice, saying that I didn't like her and only wanted to have physicl relations with her for bragging rights. She was broken hearted. She said she hated me and all those things. I've never felt so horrible. I feel like the worst person on the planet. And it wasn't even my fault. The neighbor had broken into my home and stole some of my inventions and used them against me. I don' know his motive. I would be scared to find out." Double D said, putting his head into his hands.

"Edd, you just don't realize how truly blessed you are." Fr. Espicce told him. Double D brought his head back up, completely shocked to hear the Father's words.

"What could you be talking about, Father. I have lost my only love. How in any meaning of the word could that be considered 'blessed'"? Double D scoffed.

"You have not lost your love, Edd. You have only lost your faith in love." Fr. Espicce told him, raising his voice in a gentle way. Those words hit Double D like a rifle bullet. He just sat there speechless, and Fr. Espicce took gladness in knowing his words had made Double D come to his senses.

"Edd, have I ever told you the real reason I became a priest?" Fr. Espicce asked him, leaning back in the chair.

"Because you heard the call?" Double D guessed.

"Oh, well, yes, but that is only the sugar-coated version I tell at Mass. You see, it all started when I was in high school. It was the mid sixties. One of the greatest eras in American history. I grew up in Manhattan, in a poor apartment area. However, I was able to overcome my poverty and excell at academics. I rose to become the token nerd. I had those thick black glasses, a goofy voice, wore sweater vests everyday, got A's in every class. It really bothered me." he said.

"Why would being an intellectual bother you?" Double D asked.

"Because when I was growing up, it was almost impossible to be an Italian nerd. All the Italians in my school were the bad guys in the gangs. That made me look weird. And when I was a teenager, I could never get a girlfriend. I could hardly even talk to girls without them laughing at me. It was quite saddening. And then, one day in class, when we were going over our career choices, the teacher told me it was my turn. When I stood up, I didn't even get a chance to speack. Robbie, one of the cool kids, spoke up and said, 'He's gonna be a priest or a monk or somethin' cause he can't get a girlfriend anyway!'. It really hurt my feelings. I just sat down as the rest of the class sat there and laughed at me. Even the teacher laughed. I had to go through high school with that kinda stuff everyday. I eventually got it glued into my head that I would become a priest. I started taking Latin, learning all the things you have to do, all the Rites and ceremonies. Then 1966 came along." he said.

"What happened in 1966?" Double D asked.

"Well, I graduated that Spring. But the Vietnam War was just getting started, and less than a month after I graduated, I was drafted into the Army. I was devistated, because going into the Army was almost a death wish back then. After boot camp, they sent me to La Drang. We would go around the mountains, looking for enemy spies and snipers. Here, here is a picture." he said, grabbing his wallet out of his back pocket. He pulled out a wallet sized photo and handed it to Double D. It was a professional military picture of Fr. Espicce. He had his green dress uniform on. Under his hat was thick black hair, and he did indeed have the thick black framed glasses on. He handed it back to him after examining it for a while.

"After a couple years of doing that, they sent me to Saigon. They put me to work as a spiritual adviser for the Catholic Chaplin there. I would give out candy and little Bibles to the little kids of the city. Then in 1968, Saigon was overrun. The Viet-Cong came in and stormed the city. We had to evacuate, and the Viet Cong were blasting phosphorous grenades every where. When you get hit with a phosphorous grenade, you burn from the inside out. Ehhh. Anyway, it was about 8 PM that night, and the city was falling apart, on fire, everything. We were running to the helicopter to get out, when the Chaplin, who was beside me, got hit with a phosphourous. He fell down and started slowly burining from the inside out. His skin was falling off his bones. We had no time, and since I couldn't leave my best friend behind, I picked him up and carried him to the helicopter under enemy fire. He lived, and I was awarded the Silver Star for Bravery. I'll never forget the blood-curldling cry he let out as he was burning. It will haunt me for ever." he said, looking down.

"so, how'd you become a priest?" Double D asked.

"Oh, yes, well, after the war, I was dicharged in 1969. The military paid for me to go to school, so I chose the Jesuit school at Boston College. I felt the call strong right after the war. I studied for 6 years, and got my degrees in 1975. I became a Jesuit and have been doing that ever since. Over the years I've helped thousands of people and done many things." he said, as he started rubbing his hands together.

"Have you liked being a priest?" Double D asked him.

"Oh, I have loved it. I would rather do nothing else. But it takes a strong person to do what I do. Like trying to help you know. I can't let my emotions cloud my reasoning. Now, do you feel like you are well again?" he asked.

"I would if I could have her back, I would." Double D said in a melancholy voice.

"Edd, listen, your love is still there. You just have to find your faith in it again. With love, all things are true. So if you show Marie that you still posess that faith in the love you shared, she will take you back. But you have to be strong, and fight the problem head on, understand?"

"I guess so. Fr. Espicce, you are such a sage induvidual. I don't understand where you get all you wisdom?" Double D said.

"Edd, listen," Fr. Espicce said, standing up and walking over to Double D. He put his hand on his shoulder, "wisdom is the gift that God gives those who have faith in His love. Happiness is the gift you shall recieve when you have faith in Marie's love." he said, smiling. Double D couldn't help but smile back. He thought that Fr. Espicce was nothing but a machine gun of wisdom, never stopping. Double stood up and hugged him.

"Thank you so much, Father." Double D said.

"You are quite welcome, Edd." he responed, hugging him back, as though an aging grandfather would to his young grandson.

"Now Double D, I have to go and speak to other people. I hope you only recieve the happiness you deserve." he said, starting to twist the door knob, smiling.

"Thank you Father, thank you." Double D said, putting his hands together.

"Oh, no, do not thank me. Thank God the Father Almighty. For I am only the voice of which His eternal wisdom speaks. Oh, and before I leave, I must tell you, you should be expecting another visitor today. Now, good bye Edd, and God bless you." he said, going out the door.

"And the same to you." Double D replied, as he held open the door and watched Fr. Espicce walk to his car, a 1992 Lincoln, and waved good bye before he drove off.

He had other hearts to mend.

Double D walked back over to the couch, still similing. He had hope. He had faith. He had a plan. He cut on the TV and watched it for an hour before yet another car pulled up. He turned around and peeked through the blinds. He saw a yellow taxi cab, and coming up the sidewalk with suitcase in hand, was Col. Moore in his blue Air Force dress uniform.


	33. Chapter XXXIII

The song at the end of the chapter:

watch?v=uYya-hIus-U

Chapter XXXIII

As soon as Double D spotted him, he ran to the door and flashed it open. Col. Moore sped up and walked through the corridor, and closed the door behind him. He took off his cap and hung it on the hat rack.

"Edward, what in the hell is going on!" he demanded with a half-angry voice. Double D had never heard his father even begin to utter a curse word before. He was also quite shocked to hear his tone of voice. Bitter and angry.

"Well father, it is such a surprise to see you, I mean,…" Double started.

"Fr. Espicce called me and told me you and Marie broke up. I came here to find out why. Now if you do not tell me, I'll find someone who will. So either you tell me or you're just wasting my time! You don't know half the red tape I had to get through to friggin' get here in the first place. I had to stick out a lot for you. Now tell me what's going on, or I'm callin' that taxi right back and going back!" he demanded.

Double D just stood there, shaking. He had never seen his father so furious. So angry. So upset.

"Well father, if you'll just have a seat I can fill you in on the details that you seek." Double D said in a calm voice as he walked over and sat on the couch. Col. Moore followed him and sat in his usual chair. Double D again told him all the details about what happened, including Kevin's theft and burglary.

"What? You mean to tell me that that snot nosed little punk down the street broke into _my _house and stole things from it? He illegally bugged the whole neighborhood?" Col. Moore demanded.

"That is correct." Double D replied.

"That little snot nosed punk! Just wait till I get ahold of that little bastard! I'll wring his neck and break his spine in half! Just wait till I tell his parents. Oh man is he gonna be in a world of shit, oh that little son-of-a…"

"Father, please control yourself." Double D requested.

"Oh, sorry Edward, didn't mean to get off like that. It just really pisses me off, that's all." Col. Moore responded, straightening his uniform jacket out and sitting back down.

"So, is she really upset?" Col. Moore asked, in a much more calm demeanor.

"Very much so. She nearly broke my face in half when she slammed her bedroom door in my face. I don't understand why she doesn't believe what I tell her." Double D responded.

"Edd, let me tell you something about women: they'll never believe a word you say until you prove it to them. Women don't wanna do the work. Right now, Marie doesn't feel like doing the work to get back together. She wants you to do all the work. She wants you to come after her in a grand way." he said. "Worked on your mother."

"I don't know father. I have given up trying. I don't want to participate in these mind games! They're tearing my mind apart! I don't want to try again and end up more miserable than before." he said.

"Hey know, don't be an idiot!" Col Moore responded, "you don't know if you don't try. If you succeed you succeed. If you fail, you fail. But would you rather go on with life with a definite answer, or go on wondering what could have been all your life? Think about it. Which one would you rather choose?" Col. Moore asked him.

Double D had to ponder it.

Fr. Espicce was driving up the road. When he pulled up to the trailer, he parked right behind the Buick of Rod's. Inside the trailer, Rod and Barbara heard the car pull up in the gravel.

"I wonder who that could be?" Rod asked, putting his cup of coffee down, He was working on his 25th pot that day. "Who do we know with a car?"

"I think I know who it is." Barbara responded, with a big smile.

Lee and May were gone out shopping, and the house was relatively empty. Outside, it was getting darker, as the late afternoon was upon them, and the storm clouds were thickening. Fr. Espicce walk out of the car and up to the door. He didn't even have time to knock before Rod pulled the door open.

"Father, well, what brings you here?" Rod asked, shaking his hand and welcoming him in the house. Barbara gave him a friendly hug.

"I was hoping that I could possibly have a chat with Marie." he said, as Rod closed the door behind him.

"If you can, you must work some pretty good miracles. She won't talk to anybody, and I mean anybody. She won't even come out of her room. She's been in there all day. She won't eat or anything. We don't know what else to do with her. Maybe you can think of something." Rod said, as the three stood in the living room.

"Well, I can't make any promises. But it's possible that I can maybe,… straighten out a few things. Of course that is, if she'll even talk to me. I am sure that is not even a guarantee." Fr. Espicce responded.

"Well, it can't hurt to try, can it Father?" Barbara said.

"That is most certainly true, Barbara. I just got done talking with Double D actually" he said.

"How is he?" Rod asked.

"He's,….better." Fr. Espicce said, looking for a good word, "he's definitely not as depressed as before. However, I think it is mostly from lack of energy than renewment of hope. He certainly seems to have a little more confidence than before. Of course, I also called his father."

"Oh, you did?" Rod said, "Where is he?"

"He is probably over at his house now, talking with his son. He came in all the way from his base in Germany to see this problem. He is very upset and concerned for Double D. Infact, I don't think I've ever heard such anger in his voice." Fr. Espicce said.

Rod nodded at this and grabbed his keys off his belt. He was now in his night guard attire, and his shift did not begin until seven. It was not quite 5 yet.

"Where are you going?" Barbara asked.

"Oh, I'm just goin' over to Double D's house before I have to go to work. I want to see his pops. See if we can't get on the same wavelength on this whole thing." Rod replied, heading out the door.

"Go in peace." Fr. Espicce called out. Rod stopped for a moment to respond.

"Oh, I am at peace." he said as he walked out the door and closed it. The sound of his engine starting and car pulling out left Fr. Espicce and Barbara is silence.

"Lord have mercy." Fr. Espicce said silently to himself.

"So, I'm sure you want to find out about Marie." Barbara said, turning toward him.

"That would be nice." he responded.

The two walked over to the bedroom door. You could her the stifled sobs of Marie. Barbara took and knocked on the wooden door.

"Marie, oh Marie! You have a visitor." Barbara called out.

"I've told you for the 100th time, I don't wanna ever see him again!" she screamed.

Fr. Espicce looked strangely at what she said.

"Oh, she's not talking about you." Barbara said.

"Oh, I see." he responded.

"Marie honey, listen, it's not who you think. It's someone else. This man's just here to talk to you, that's all." she said.

Marie stopped crying, and they could hear here footsteps coming toward the door. All the locks were undone, and Marie cracked the door enough to see the two of them. She visualized Father Espicce and her blank face cheered up slightly, however it was not visible.

"Father Espicce, it's you." she said in a blank, emotionless voice.

"Why yes, I would hope so." he said, smiling. Marie's expression did not change.

"Well, I'll leave you to do your magic." Barbara said as she walked back into the kitchen.

"Come in." Marie said as Fr. Espicce walked past her. She closed the door behind him and slowly strutted back over to her bed and sat down on it, crossing her legs and holding onto an item that Fr. Espicce could not quite make out.

"What have you here?" Fr. Espicce asked, trying to pull the item out of her hands.

"It's my teddy, okay!" Marie said, hugging it tight in her arms.

"Okay, okay. It's alright! I'm not going to take him from you! You know, a while ago, I had young nieces who were less possessive over their teddy bears at age 5 than you are now at age 14." he said.

"Well, it's mine. Rod got it for me for my 3rd birthday. I've never paid much attention to it up until yesterday." she said.

Fr. Espicce sat down on Lee's bed and pondered on that for a minute. It didn't take him long to connect the dots, and come to a conclusion in his head.

"You know, that teddy bear is just symbolism here." he said, pointing toward it. "You want to love that teddy bear, and you expect it to give the same love back to you that Edd did. But it won't no matter how hard you try. Therefore you cling to it even more, trying to replicate the love it cannot give back." he said, with the proverbial light bulb floating above his head.

"Damn he's good!" Marie muttered under his breath.

"What's that?" Fr. Espicce asked, not hearing what she said.

"Oh, nothing." she said. Fr. Espicce noticed her horribly tear-stained face. Her blank expression. He had to address it.

"Marie, I have to ask you a question." he said.

"What?" she asked, looking up into his face.

"Why have you been crying so much?" he asked.

"What? Why have I been crying? Why have I been crying? Haven't you heard what he said about me? He never loved me. He only used me, like the selfish pig he is!" she said., crossing her arms.

"He did not say those things, Marie, one of his neighbors did it. The very one who addressed you that night. He broke into Edd's house and stole his inventions. He is innocent." Fr. Espicce said.

"I don't believe you, you're making it up. He doesn't love me, and I don't love him!" she said.

"Well, if he didn't love you, why is he sitting in his house right now, crying his heart out? If he didn't love you, why would he still be thinking about you day and night. If he did not love you, why would he still devout his soul to yours." he said, looking her in the eye. He had entered priest-mode. And there was no turning back. Marie just gulped and said nothing at first.

"I,….., I don't know." she said, lowering her head.

"Do you truly not know, or are you trying to make yourself believe you don't know. True love is eternal. It is everlasting. It does not go away. When anger, jealousy, and all other emotions subside, love remains. Why? Because love is the only emotion shared by two people. It has a common link, unbreakable. Love is the only emotion not found inside your head. Love is found in your soul. Love perseveres. Love endures. Your mind cannot control love. That is the reason you are questioning your love right now. Your mind is telling you one thing, and your soul is telling you another. Naturally, you go with what your mind is saying. Love is out of your mind's hands. You have only lost your faith in love. You lost your trust in love. That is why you doubt it. You have let your mental emotions get ahead of your soul. Love is not an emotion. Love is a reality." he said, moving his hand down.

Those words certainly effected Marie. But he still had more to say.

"Your trust in love must be renewed. Sure, why should you believe what I tell you? Why should you believe that Edd still loves you? That is what your mind is telling you. But you have to use your trust of love to trust that he does. Trust, it is a powerful thing. Trusting love is the same as putting your soul into his hands. So far, you have only been listening to what your mind has been telling you. But look into your soul, look at the love you share, and you find that you still have faith in that love. Your love is still as strong as it has ever been. You just don't trust it. You have to have that trust, to see that love again. Don't trust your gut. Trust you soul. That is the only reliable thing you can put your full trust in. If you didn't still feel that connection, why would you be sitting here crying. You still linger for his love. Love does not possess the nature of anger or depression. Your mind is trying to replace the love that you have not felt with depression. That is why you feel so sad. Your mind is trying to replace the love that came from your soul with depression and sadness. But it can never replicate the happiness that love brought you. And that, is what you linger for more than anything."

Marie just sat there, utterly speechless.

"I,…I don't know what to say." she said.

"It does not matter what you say to me. It matters what you are willing to say about Double D. Do you still have faith in your love for him?"

"I, I'll have to think about it." she said.

"Don't think." Fr. Espicce said, "You cannot think love. You can only feel love. Love is not a concept that you can think of in your mind. Love is a connection you feel in your soul." he said, smiling.

She just sat there, not saying anything.

"But, I feel that there is more to this. You feel more than just common love for Edd. You feel an emotional connection with him." he said, prying her open.

"Oh Father, it all started with that bully. The way he called me ugly." she said, as she started crying, "all my life people have called me ugly, stupid, hideous, trashy, disgusting, whore, slut, etc. I have never had one person say one nice thing to me. Not one person to show one shred of compassion for me. Then Double D came along, and showed me all of that! He was the first person to love me for me. He didn't care where I came from. He didn't care how I lived. He only cared about the love we had. He only cared if I still loved him when he got up every day. And I only cared about if he would still accept me for me everyday. We didn't care about how we lived or what we were like. We cared about the love. The true love we shared. No one had ever shown that to me. Everyone has just called me ugly all my life. No one gave me a chance! But he did, and he gave me something no one had given me before: true, unconditional love." she sobbed hard, as she grabbed Fr. Espicce in a hug. He grabbed her back, and though he tried to hid it, he felt tears starting to run down his cheek.

"It's alright, sweetie, it's alright. I was called names too. I have been made fun of all my life too." he said, feeling the tears run down faster and faster.

"You were?" she asked.

"Yes, I was. When I was a kid, they called me 'queer-bait' and 'nerdy nerd'. When I got back from Vietnam, they called be 'baby killer' and spat on me. But I found that if no one else cared for me, God did. His love is unconditional, just like Double D feels for you. And trust me when I tell you, he still feels the same for you now as he did when you first discovered his love. After all he has been through, he still asked if you were okay. That takes a completely selfless person to do that. He still loves you, more than you ever know." he said, still hugging her tight. While she sobbed and wailed on his shoulder, he still felt tears running down. The two let go as Marie's sobs subsided.

"I guess he still loves me, huh?" she asked, sniffling. Fr. Espicce handed her a handkerchief out of his pocket as he took one out and wiped his eyes under his glasses with it.

"If you realize, deep down in your soul that he does, who am I to disagree." he said, smiling.

"I just don't know Father. I think he will have to prove it to me. I still have doubts. But I miss his embrace so much!" she said, in between sniffles.

Fr. Espicce got up and moved toward the door.

"I think he just might do that." he said, smiling, as he opened the door.

"Thank you Father, you are a truly wise man, but I don't think I can do it. I just feel too hurt. I just don't think I can." she said.

"Just remember Marie, the sadness you feel is temporary. The love you have is permanent. And the minute you bring back your trust in love, is the minute your happiness will return." he said as he stepped out the door, and closed it behind him.

Marie had to look into her soul, and find the love again.

_Only love can break a heart._

_Only love can mend it again. _

_Last night I hurt you,_

_But darlin', remember this:_

_Only love can break a heart. _

_Only love can mend it again. _

_You know I'm sorry._

_I'll prove it with just one kiss. _

_Only love can break a heart._

_Only love can mend it again. _

_Give me a chance to_

_Make up for the harm I've done. _

_Try to forgive me,_

_And let's keep the two of us one. _

_Please let me hold you _

_And love you for always _

_And always._

_Only love can break a heart,_

_Only love can mend it agai-ian _

_Only love can break a heart. _

_Only love can mend _

_It _

_Again. _


	34. Chapter XXXIV

Chapter XXXIV

Just as Fr. Espicce closed the door behind him, Ms. Kanker came out of the kitchen to see how everything went.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked.

"Well, it was certainly interesting. I am sure she is seeing things in,...a different light than before. She has certainly cheered up. But her stubborness still plagues her. She says she still doesn't want to get back together with him. But I think Double D will surprise us all with this one. I wouldn't give up yet. There is still a great amount of hope left for them." Fr. Espicce replied, smiling.

"Well, thank you so much, Father. I don' think we could have ever made it through without you. You are truly a great man." she said, hugging him.

"It's alright, I don't take any credit for it. Just have faith. And through wich all things are possible. Love has no record of wrongs. Love never fails." he said, walking out the door and closing it behind him. He walked to his car started it up. The sky was now getting dark, as the sun had just gone down. The twilight brought the fireflies, as their glowing flourecsent tails lit up the area around the trailer park. The smell of nicotine and motor oil filled the air. Father Espicce took in a long breath before driving off. He found it ironic, as he had his car radio on the oldies station, and "Love is a Many Splendered Thing" was playing. He sang along to it with a smile as he rode down the road.

Right after Rod had left, he went straight to Double D's house. For some reason, he held a slight disliking for Col. Moore, even though he had never met him before, and in fact had only learned of him earlier that morning. He had it set in his mind that he was some sort of GI Joe guy with no soul. But boy was he in for a surprise.

When he pulled up, he saw col. Moore sitting on the stoop in front of the door, with the look of a thousand problems on his face. Rod was quite shocked to see what he looked like. He was nerdy. He was thin, had those black-framed glasses, etc. Rod's impression of him drastically changed because of it. He parked the car on the side of the road infront of the house and stepped out. As he stepped up the sidewalk, Col. Moore looked up to see him. He quickly stood up and straightened out his jacket and tie.

"Hello, you must be Double D's father." Rod said, sticking out his hand, "I'm Rodney Van Wilmer, Marie's step-father." Col. Moore returned the favor by shaking his hand.

"Hello, nice to meet you. I am Lieutenant Colonel Edward Moore, United States Air Force. But most people call Colonel. But you can call me Edward if you like." he responded with a half-smile. He had never allowed anybody to call him by his name.

"Very nice to meet you as well, Colonel. Most people call me Rod. I heard you came in all the way from Germany, huh?" he said.

"That's right, Rod. I had to get through a lot of red tape to do it, too. In fact, I have to leave tomorrow to go back. This whole situation got me really upset." col. Moore said, looking down.

"You're not kiddin'." Rod replied. "It's taken its toll on all of us, I think. It's hard to have to deal with all this stress, especially for the kids. They're takin' it real hard."

"Yeah, that's true. Edd is up in his room now, feeling sorry for himself. He is so troubled by all this. I just wish there was something I could do." Col. Moore said, rubbing his chin.

"Wanna have a seat?" he asked Rod.

"Sure, might as well." Rod said, as the two of them took a seat on the concrete stoop.

"So I take it you're a policeman?" Col. Moore asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Security guard, actually. I work graveyard at the Peach Branch Mini-Mart. I've been workin' there ever since I moved down, after the divorce." Rod said.

"Oh, so you're not from here?" Col. Moore asked.

"No, we're from Michigan. Detroit actually. I had to get away from up there. It is just a horrible city. I actually think a nuclear bomb would do about $3 billion worth of improvements to it." Rod said, as the two laughed at his joke.

"Yeah, we're not from here either. Me and my wife grew up in New York city. The Bronx. Man was that a childhood. Anyway, we moved here after I got reassigned to the base 20 miles from here about 12 years ago. I travel all over the world, working on satelitte communications for the military."

"So, what does your wife do?" Rod asked.

"She is a law scientist. She examines court cases and mistrials. She's basically a lawyer's lawyer. She goes all over the country doing that stuff. She's published two books on it, actually. So, you're divorced?" Col. Moore asked.

"Yeah, we divorced obout 5 years ago. Me and their mother. You see, Marie has two sisters. The oldest, Lee, is from Butch, Barbara's first husband."

"What happened to him?"

"He was killed by a gang in Detroit. He was the second in charge of the Detroit PD. I worked as a cop under him. And then Marie, the second oldest, is from some one-night stand Barbara had one night. His name was Bubba. I would probably punch that bastard if I had the chance. Then May, the youngest, is our daughter. I married her a year before May was born. We stayed married for eight years. But we just grew apart over time. It was really sad when we parted. After the divorce, she got the kids, and she moved down here in that God-foresaken trailer park over there. I moved down to help out with the kids, cause they matter more than anything to me." Rod said, taking in a sharp inhale.

"Do you ever think that you'll get remarried." Col. Moore asked.

"I haven't ruled it out as a possibility." Rod responded. "But all this stress has just crushed me. I don't know what to do. Hopefully Fr. Espicce can fix things. He's the only one that can." Rod said, reaching into his pocket.

"He talked to Marie as well?" Col Moore asked.

"Yeah he's over there now." Rod said, pulling the cigarette pack and lighter out of his pocket. col. Moore eyed them. He had always been fervently against smoking, and hated the very sight of a cigarette. Rod noticed his looking at them.

"Wanna cigarette?" Rod asked him, moving the pack toward him and knocking a few partially out of the opening.

"I'd love one." Col. Moore responded as he picked one out of the pack with his fingers and placed it in between his lips. Rod smiled as he took one out for himself, and lit it up with his Zippo. He passed the lighter to Col. Moore as he lit up and gave the lighter back to Rod.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" Rod said, taking a puff of his cigarette, and flicking his ashes off to the side.

"Thanks, it will really help with the nerves." Col. Moore replied, as he puffed and held it in his fingers, blowing smoke into the air.

The two just sat there, puffing on their cigarettes, non-verbal, but just sitting there, in the silence of the twilight. The only sounds were that of the crickets in the grass and the frogs in the trees.

After roughly 30 minutes, they could see the headlights of Fr. Espicce's smooth driving Lincoln coming up the street. The two looked on as the priest engaged his emergency break and hopped out, walking up the sidewalk toward them. They stood up as he came closer.

"Gentlemen, how are you this evening?" He asked as he stood before them.

"Father Espicce, it is so good to see you. It has been what, months?" Col. Moore said as he reached out and hugged the priest.

"Oh Eduardo, it is so good to see you. You haven't changed a bit." Fr. Espicce said as he hugged him back. He then turned to Rod and proceeded to hug him.

"Rodney, it is nice to see you again today." Fr. Espicce said as they hugged.

"Great to see you, Father. How did everything go?" he asked as they let go and stood there.

"Well, it went better than expected. Uh, she was,...still gravely upset when I left however. I can only hope that my words left a lasting impression on her." he said.

"Knowing you Father, I am sure they did." Col. Moore said as they stood there, exchanging looks. Fr. Espicce noticed that both had cigarettes in their hands. Rod took out his pack and shook it toward Fr. Espicce.

"Father, want a cigarette?" Rod asked.

"You're damn right I do!" Father Espicce said as he took one and held it in his hands. The three laughed at his reaction to it. As soon as Rod handed him the Zippo, he struck it up in his mouth and enjoyed the soothing quality the nicotine gave him. He gave the light back and took the cigarette out, blowing the smoke into the dark air.

"Ah, now that's better!" he said, as the three sat down on the stoop. Col. Moore on the left, Fr. Espicce in the middle, and Rod on the right. The three sat there, puffing their smokes in the dwindling light that the no-longer visible sun gave.

"Damn all this." Fr. Espicce said in a stressful voice, as he let out a sigh with smoke. "This whole thing has been too much. Those two deserve each other in every way possible. And for it all to end like this, and the fact that they'll probably never be back together again. It just isn't fair."

"Nothing's fair, Father." Rod said as he took a puff of his dwindling cigarette, prepared to light up another one.

"Those words are too true, Rodney, too true." the priest said, drawing in another puff of his own cigarette.

"However, I have this tiny feeling that the kids will work this out somehow. However their little minds work, is how it is going to be. I pray they do at least." he said.

"Well Father, if it's affecting anybody, it has to be them." Col. Moore said. "They're bond to think of something."

"I'm sure Edd is up in his room now, thinking of some type of plan. That kid is too smart for his own good." Fr. Espicce said, taking another puff.

The other two nodded in agreement.

They just sat there in the silence a little longer. After about 30 more minutes, Rod looked at his watch and saw that it was quarter till 7.

"Well boys," he said, getting up and taking one last puff of his cigarette before throwing in to the concrete and stomping it out with his foot, "It's been wonderful chatting, but I'll be late for work if I stay any longer." he walked up to Col. Moore first.

"Well Colonel Moore, it's been a pleasure meeting you. You're a great father and great man. I hope we can meet again under happier circumstances." he said, saluting him.

"It has been very nice to meet you as well. I just hope all works out in the future." Col. Moore said as he returned his salute. Rod nodded back to him and went to Fr. Espicce.

"Father, thank you so much for everything you have done. You have done more than you could ever know for us." Rod said, shaking his hand.

"My pleasure Rodney. But it is just my duty. I was happy to have done it." Fr. Espicce replied, smiling.

Rod walked down the side walk and opened his car door, and said "Bye." as he waved and hoped in. The other two waved back as well, and he drove off and left for his job.

"Well Eduardo, I guess I must be getting away as well. I have tired myself out today. I need to go back and get some rest." Fr. Espicce said, putting out his cigarette.

"Very well Father, you have done more than enough." Col. Moore replied, patting him on the shoulder.

"But I must wonder," Fr. Espicce said, "what will they do with the little punk that did all this?"

"Oh, I will inform his parents before I leave. But I'll call my brother first, tonight, and let him 'take care of business.'" Col. Moore said as he chuckled.

"I'll leave you to do that." Fr. Espicce said, chuckling as well, "It has been so nice to see you again, Edward. Hopefully we can see each other again." he said.

"Hopefully so Father, hopefully so." he said as they hugged each other.

"Just take care of little Edd." Fr. Espicce said, walking toward his car.

"Oh, I will." Col. Moore replied.

Fr. Espicce got into his car and waved goodbye, and said "Arriverderci!" as he climbed into the driver seat.

"Arriverderci!" Col. Moore called back as Fr. Espicce turned on his head lights and rode off. The street lights now illuminated the area as the night had now fallen on the cul-de-sac. Col. Moore flicked his cigarette away and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed up a number and waited for the ring to end.

"Hello," he said when the other person answered, "yeah, Vinny, this is Eduardo. Yeah, yeah, I'm doin' fine. Yeah. Oh, it's as busy as ever, yeah. Listen, I got a little problem. See, my son Edd, yeah, he's doin' fine, anyway, some little punk made his girlfriend break up with him. Do you think you can get the boys to straigten this out? Yeah, he lives in the same neighborhood, yep. Alright, thanks so much Vinny. I'll call ya later, alright. Alright, see ya soon, okay. B-Bye." he said as he hung up.

The boys were gonna be back in town.


	35. Chapter xxxv

Chapter XXXV

It was about 8 o'clock by then. Nobody was outside in the cul-de-sac. All except Kevin. He was trying to avoid his parents, and was sitting up against his trash can behind his house. His parents were with the rest of the cul-de-sac parents: at a quarterly neighborhood meeting downtown.

"Dumb dorks! But don't worry, Kevy boy! Oh no, don't worry. You'll think of somethin' even better! Oh yeah, somethin' much better. And this time I'll get all the dorks. Every last one of em. And they'll all feel the wrath of Kevin!" he said to himself as he started laughing manicially.

But as he was laughin, he saw a flash of light as the strong highbeams of a car, a 1953 Cadillac Coupe with black paint job, and white wall tires, pulled up in front of the house. The windows of the car were tinted as much as possible. The high beams were turned off as the car was turned off, but the lowbeams remained. Kevin didn't really think much of this, and may have just been one of the neighbors or something.

Out of the back seat of the car, two suicide doors opened up and three teenage boys climbed out. They were about 15 or 16 years old. They all had on black suits with black ties. One of them had parted black hair, another had slicked back brown hair, and the other had parted dark brown hair, and sunglasses. The one with the sunglasses also had a wooden Louisville Slugger baseball bat in his hands. The one with the brown hair had a soldering iron. At this point, Kevin was completly scared to death. He wanted to get away, but was too paralyzed by fear. The three boys walked up to him, the one with the black hair in front, the one with the baseball bat to his right, and the one with the soldering iron on the left. The front man walked up to Kevin and spoke to him.

"You're Kevin, right?" he asked in a very thick New York/Italian accent.

"Ye,...yeah." he said.

"Alright boys," he said, turning his head, "this is our man, right here!"

"Who are you dorks?" Kevin asked, feeling a little lucky and bold.

"Dorks?" The front guy said, and he turned his head to the other two, "the man called us dorks." as they all chuckled at this. Kevin just stared at them.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my mistake." the front guy said, "I didn't formally introduce myself. My name is Carlo Mastrangelo, the man to my right is Perci Mastrangelo, my younger brother, and the man to my left is Toni Morano, our cousin. We all, are the cousins of the man called Edduardo Morano, or you may know him as the artist formerly known as Double D."

"Yeah, what about him?" Kevin asked in an angry tone, but on the inside, who was scared to death.

"Oh, we heard there was a little misunderstanding here a couple days ago. Our sources indicate that you, Kevin, buglarized Double D's house, stole some of his stuff, and made 'im break up with his girl. And we don't much appreciate it. Ya see, you don't mess with family, Kevin. Cause eventually, you're gonna come across the wrong one, and you're gonna get your head smashed in." he said, as he snapped his right finger. The three moved closer, and Kevin was ready to make a beeline.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that, Kevin. You'll never make it. Toni here was first place champ in the harpoon throwing competition three years runnin'. He'll toss that soldering iron straight through ya abdominal regions." Carlo said.

Kevin just shivered in fear.

"Well boys, I guess nows the time," he said, snapping his finger, "Perci, let's bash his skull in and spread his brains across the pavement,...that is,...if he's got any brains to begin with." Carlo said, as Perci moved foreward with his baseball bat, smiling.

"I don't understand!" Kevin cryed, holding his hands in front of his face.

"Hold up!" Carlo said, holding his hand up to motion to Perci, and Carlo pulled out a .22 calibur handgun from his jacket pocket, and shot it into Kevin's leg. Kevin just seethed in pain, but did not scream. He knew it would be the end of him if he did.

"Allow me to retort!" Carlo said, poining his gun back down at the ground, "I understand this situation perfectly. I understand that I wanna see your brains on that pavement! That's what I understand. Now, I don't know what you understand, by you betta understand me quick, or you can get busy dyin'. Let's proceed." Carlo said as he snapped his finger once more. Perci walked forward, and raised his bat up. Kevin flinched and try to crawl away. But Carlo caught him, grabbed him up by his collar with one hand, and threw him against the fence in the back yard.

"Listen here hat boy!" Carlo said, pointing his gun at him, "give me one good reason that I should spare your life. One good reason."

"I'm too young?" Kevin said, shivering, and starting to tear up.

"Too young? Did ya hear that fellas? The guy said he's too young. Ah, that's rich. Listen kid, we've dragged and dumped kids younger than you before. That ain't gonna get you outta my book. You're gonna hafta come up with somethin' more original than that."

Kevin just laid there, and said nothing.

"Looks like we're gonna hafta execute plan B fellas. Oh Big Lenny!" Carlo called out.

"Big Lenny?" Kevin asked neverously.

At the call, the passenger side door opened up. Out of it came a teenager in the same suit as the rest of them. However, Big Lenny was only about 5'4" and weighed close to 350 lbs. He walked out and waddled over to the backyard.

"Oh I'm sorry Kevin, did I not introduce Big Lenny? This here is Lorenzo Morano, Big Lenny for short. He's Toni's older brotha. Lenny," he said, snapping his finger, "do your stuff."

At that moment, Lenny jumped in the air and landed right on top of Kevin, sitting on his rib cage. Kevin all but screamed out in paid. Carlo and the others just laughed.

"Alright hat boy, you got me feelin' generous today. The way I see it, ya got three choices. Choice One: you skip town, bust outta here, I don't care. But you leave Double D alone forever, and don't come within a mile radius of him ever. Now, Choice Two: you don't give us an answer, and take your time, we're just gonna let Lenny here crush ya to death. Or you got Choice three: you say no, in which Perci here is gonna bash your skull in, and Toni here is gonna jam that soldering iron right in ya heart. Now which one is it?" Carlo asked him, leaning his head down at him.

"I ain't gotta listen to anything you say!" Kevin said.

"You heard the man boys." Carlo said. Lenny stood up off of him and Carlo pulled a nine-iron golf club out of his pants leg. He took and hit Kevin in the head with it, knocking him flat on the ground. Perci then took and wacked him in the legs and butt several times with the Slugger. Toni jumped in and jabbed is arms a couple times with the soldering iron. Kevin winced in pain, and the tears were rolling down his face.

"Are you guys psychos or something?" Kevin cried out.

"Nah, we're just professionals." Carlo responded.

The group went back to the flogging. Finally Kevin cracked.

"Alright, alright!" he cried, "I'll leave town, I'll leave town!"

"Alright boys, we gotta answer." Carlo said as all three stopped. Carlo picked Kevin up by the collar, and slammed him against the fence. Kevin was sobbing at this point. Carlo pulled out a black object from his pocket. He held it as he pressed a button, and a razor sharp blade flipped out. It was an authentic Italian switch blade knife. He held it to Kevin's stomach as he held him up with his other hand.

"Now you listen here you little shit, and you listen good. We're gonna be back, tomorrow, same time, same place. If you ain't made like a book page an' turned ova, we're gonna personally bash ya head in, stab ya in the heart, tie some bricks to ya feet, and throw ya in the river. You got it?" Carlo asked, gritting his teeth.

Kevin just sobbed some more.

"I asked you if you got it!" Carlo demanded, slamming him against the fence again.

"I got it!" Kevin said, sobbing some more.

"Good he said, dropping him to the ground. Kevin just curled up in the fetal position and cryed. The other guys started to leave before Carlo stopped them.

"Hold on a minute boys, I ain't done here..." he said, raising up his hand. They all smiled, as Perci took and wacked Kevin in the stomach two or three times. Carlo wacked him in the side with the nine-iron, and Toni hit him in the chest with the other end of the soldering iron. Lenny took and kicked him a buch in the back with his steel-toe boots. Kevin squeled in pain pain, and continued sobbing.

"How long?" Perci asked, wacking him in the back of the knees.

"Till I think he's cryed as much as Double D and his girl did. Till we recreate that hurt they felt." Carlo said.

"Okay." Perci said as they continued to wack him.

"Hey Carlo, watch this." Perci said as he positioned his bat behind Kevin's but. Kevin was on his side at the time. By this time Kevin had also been gagged as to not alert anybody. Perci took and said "Homerun!" as he wacked Kevin as hard as he could with the bat in the butt. It sent Kevin across the yard about two feet.

"Aha that was pretty good Perci! But I gotta even betta one!" Carlo said as he sat Kevin up in an upright postiion. He held the golf club close to his face and said "Fore!" as he swung it as hard as he could into Kevin's right cheeck. It sent Kevin twisting back about four feet and knock about three of his teeth out, and blood poured from his mouth. The four boys stood there laughing like crazy.

"I don't knows guts more busted: his from the bat or me from the laughin'!" Perci said, as they laughed even harder.

Afterwards they continued to wack him with their things for about another 10 minutes. By that time Kevin as a bloody wreck, and the tears were flowing from his eyes like a tsunami.

"Alright boys, I've had my fun." Carlo said.

"Hey Carlo, hows about we tie 'im to the back of the car and drag 'im." Toni said.

"Nag, let's tie him up and ditch him in the trash can." Carlo replied.

"I'll get the rope!" Lenny said.

They tied him up and took his gag out. Then they threw him in the trash can. Carlo leaned down in to talk to him. Kevin was still sobbing madly.

"Now listen up hot shot, if anybody askes, you were riddin' your bike and fell in a rock quarry, got it!" he said, "And to prove it, we took the liberty of smashin' up your bike for ya."

Kevin looked as Perci held up the pick, which had been completely destroyed by the bat.

"My bike!" Kevin cried.

"Yeah, and it's gonna be your head if we catch you here this time tomorrow, ya hear. Now, what happened?" Carlo asked.

"I,...,I fell,.." Kevin sobbed.

"What happend to you!" Carlo demanded.

"I fell in a rock quarry!" Kevin sobbed.

"Good, now, what do you gotta do before tomorrow?"

"Skip town." Kevin sobbed.

"Kids a good listener." Carlo said to the other guys, "Alright kid, we had fun, so good night. And we betta not catch ya foolin' wit Double D no more, or we'll find ya where ever ya are." he said as he slammed the lid down and walked back around the house and to the car with the other guys.

"Did you guys see when I said 'Fore!'?" Carlo asked, cracking up.

"Of course we say it you idiot, we were there!" Perci said, as they hopped into the car.

"Hey, it was funny though. Kid should have thought about it before he went and picked on a kid with a family in the Mafia." Carlo said, closing his right suicide door.

The car turned around in the circle of the cul-de-sac, and drove off.

Kevin was still in the garbage can, sobbing like he'd never sobbed before.


	36. Chapter XXXVI

Chapter XXXVI

Just as Kevin was getting the Godfather treatment, May and Lee were retuning home from shopping. They hadn't bought anything when they were out, and for the most part, just argued the entire time.

When they got home, Barbara was sitting on the stoop, with a stressed out and tired look on her face. She had a coffee mug in her hand, and sipped it periodically. She perked up when she saw the two girls walking up the path.

"Girls, it's so good to see you." she called out, as she stood up and waved at them.

"Mom, how is everything?" Lee asked.

"Well, Father Espicce talked to her. But I think she still needs you to talk to her. She was fine for about 30 minutes, then she put on that record Double D gave her when they first started going together, and she started sobbing again. I think you girls need to go in there and talk to her. Maybe you can do something. There is nothing quite like a sisterly talk." Barbara said, holding the door open for them.

Lee and May looked at her with a nervous expression. They weren't sure if Marie would even let them in the room, much less talk.

"Just trust me." Barbara told them.

"Okay, sure mom." Lee said as her and May walked up the stoop and into the living room. They walked up to the bedroom door and stood there for a minute. Neither said anything at first. Lee went and twisted the door knob, and it was unlocked.

"Hey, at least it's unlocked." Lee said.

"We should still ask." May said.

"Yeah, you're right." Lee responded. The two listened close, but couldn't hear anything in the room.

"I don't hear anything." May whispered.

"You reckon she's in there?" Lee asked.

"I don't know." May said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, here goes nuttin'." Lee said.

"Marie, can we come in, we just wanna talk." Lee said in a very kind demeanor, alien to her.

There was silence for a moment, then Marie responded.

"Sure come in." she called.

May and Lee exchanged shocked looks, then went in the room.

They saw Marie sitting on the edge of her bed, looking through a bunch of snap shot photos of her and Double D. Her tears fell and hit them, as she was still crying. She remained absorbed in them for a few moments before she looked up and acknowledged her two sisters.

"Oh, hey." she said, shoving the pictures back under her bed.

"No, Marie, what do you have there, you don't have to hid them from us!" Lee said as she ran over and grabbed the pictures.

"Oh, those are just some old photos of me and Double D." she said, wiping her eyes with the same handkerchief that Fr. Espicce had given her.

Lee picked a handful of them up and sat next to Marie on the edge of the bed. May took a seat across from them.

The pictures were all of Double D and Marie. Some of them were of them sitting in his family room together. Some were of them cooking in the kitchen. One was of them on the couch in the trailer living room. A bunch of them were of them kissing and hugging each other. Lee looked through them and then handed them back to Marie, who looked back through them again.

"You know Marie, you don't have to go on like this. You can get back together. You don't have to stay this way forever." Lee said, crossing her legs.

"Don't you think I know that Lee!" Marie snapped at her. "I just don't know if I can. I mean, I don't even know if he'll have me back. I'm just too confused. I don't know. I just don't know." Marie said, holding back tears.

"Marie, we're your sisters, you can trust us." May said, smiling at her sisters.

"Yeah Marie, that's what we're here for." Lee said.

"Oh, guys, I love you so much!" Marie said, finally releasing her tears and grabbing both her sisters in a hug.

"We're here for ya Marie, we're here for ya." Lee said, grabbing on to her tight.

The sisters all shared tears on each other's shoulders.

Meanwhile back in the cul-de-sac, Carlo, Perci, and Toni were walking down the sidewalk, toward Double D's house.

"Oh man, I ain't had this much fun in a long time. Oh man, that was some time, wasn't it boys?" Carlo said, still chuckling.

"I gotta admit, that was a pretty show. We ain't done that much damage in a while." Perci replied.

"Yeah, but that punk deserved every last bit of it. He deserved more, but I felt a little mercy for 'im. I can be a good guy sometimes, ya know." Carlo replied.

"Yeah right Carlo. You, a good guy? Come on." Toni said.

"Yeah, you might have a point there, but just wait till I get back home and tell Gianna what I did. She'll feel so proud of me for it." he said, with a big grin in an amorous fashion.

"Puh, you think Gianna will go with you? Get real noodle brain." Perci said, as he and Toni started laughing.

"Oh, to hell with the both of ya. I happened to be madly in love with her, and she will be mine one day." he said.

"Yeah, in your dreams." Toni said, as the two of them chuckled again.

"Oh, shut up, the both of ya." Carlo said, turning around and shaking his fist at them. "We're here, that's the house." he said, pointing at the house.

The three walked up and knocked on the door.

"Is he home?" Perci asked.

"Of course he's home you noodle head! Now get outta my way!" Carlo said as he knocked on the door again.

Col. Moore came to the door and pulled it open, revealing the three boys standing there.

"Boys!" Col. Moore said, "Com on in!"

"Well hey Uncle Eduardo, how's it goin'?" Carlo asked.

"Oh, nothing much, how about you Carlo, Perci, Toni?" he asked them.

"Oh, I'm doin' fine." Carlo replied.

"Yeah, what he said." Perci said.

"Same here." Toni said.

"Well, was the mission a success. Did you boys 'take care of business'?" he asked them.

"We didn't just take care of business, we established business." Carlo said, as they chuckled.

"Very good boys, very good." he said, patting Carlo on the back.

"So, Uncle E, where is Double D at?" Perci asked.

"He's upstairs boys, first door on the right." Col. Moore said, pointing toward the stairs.

"Thanks Uncle E, nice talkin' to ya." Carlo said.

"Nice to see you boys too." Col. Moore said, as the three went up the stairs. Double D was in his room, printing off some sheet music and memorizing it when the three walked into his room.

"Hey hey hey, look who it is boys! It's the man of the hour himself." Carlo said, walking over to him.

"Oh, greetings Carlo, Perci, Toni."

"So, how are ya holdin' up?" Carlo asked, squatting down to his chair level.

"Oh, I have been better." Double D responded.

"We all feel bad for ya Double D. At our parish, we lit some candles just for you." Perci said.

"Well, that is quite kind of you." Double D responded.

Just as he finished up, Ed and Eddy came through the door.

"Alright Double D, let's get-whoa, who invited the GoodFellas?" Eddy said as he walked in.

"Eddy, these are my cousins, Carlo, Perci, and Toni." Double D replied.

"Oh, okay, how's it goin'," Eddy said.

"We're just fine." Carlo said, leaning against the wall next to Perci and Toni. "So Double D, where are we goin'?" Perci asked, pertaining to Eddy's comments.

"Well, we are heading over to the trailer park on a mission. You gentleman came come along if you want, you can be of assistance." Double D said.

"The Flush-n-Park? Were all the slackjaws live? That's where we're goin'? Sure, we can go." Carlo said.

"Perfect. Alright, Eddy, have you made contact?" Double D asked him.

"Yeah, I just called Lee. Her and May are gonna clear a space for us behind her window. And she told me that Marie doesn't know a thing about it." Eddy replied.

"Perfect, now let's get busy. Eddy, you grab that large amplifier right there." Double D said, pointing toward it.

"I'm on it." Eddy said, grabbing it by the handle.

"Ed, you grab the small amplifier." Double D said.

"Roger dodger." Ed said, lifting it up onto his shoulder.

"Carlo, Perci, Toni, you grab that steel guitar and microphone and stand, will you?" Double D asked.

Carlo snapped his finger and the three went and grabbed them up.

"Let's go." Double D said, holding the door open for all the guys.

As they went down the stairs, Col. Moore didn't notice at first, as he was watching television. But as Carlo and Perci came down with the steel guitar, which Col. Moore had personally paid over $5,000 for Double D for Christmas one year. And of course Toni came down with the microphone and stand, and Double D followed. Col. Moore let them go without bothering them, but did question to himself what they were doing.

"Better follow them." he told himself. He got up from the couch and put on his hat, before heading out the door and following them at a slow pace, as to not be detected.

"Dang Double D, what do you keep gold in this thing or somethin'?" Carlo asked, getting tired of carrying the steel guitar.

"Stop complainin' Carlo. You've lifted heavier things than this before." Perci said.

"Hey, you wanna knuckle sammich?" Carlo asked him.

"Would both of you knock it off. Geez." Toni said.

"Shut up Toni!" everybody said in unison.

"Alright, alright, have an aneurism why don't ya!" Toni said.

As soon as they got there, Lee and May were sitting on the stoop outside. The porch lights were the only lights shinning, for there were no street lights in the trailer park.

"Good, you boys are here. Hey, who are the good lookin' studs you brought with ya?" Lee whispered, refering to Carlo, Perci, and Toni.

"Those are Double D's cousins. And hey, don't get no ideas. I 'm watchin' you." Eddy whispered back.

"Oh calm down!" Lee said as she hugged Eddy. "Look at my muscle man, carryin' this big ole amp." she said.

"Oh, yeah, don't you know it!" Eddy said, showing off his no-existant muscles.

"Ssshhh you two, we gotta keep a low profile, understand?" Carlo whispered.

"Geez, what does he think he is, the Godfather or somethin'?" Lee whispered.

"Alright Double D, were do we set this thing?" Perci whispered.

"Right here." May said, motioning with her hand. It was right outside of the bedroom window, which was closed at the moment.

"Ed, Eddy, bring those amps over here, will ya?" Carlo said, motioning them to come over.

Ed and Eddy placed the amps around the steel guitar, and Toni sat the microphone down. Carlo got busy hooking the wires up. Double D walked up to Lee.

"So Lee, how is Marie taking it?" he asked.

"Not so good." she said, "she's still up in her room, sobbing."

Double D took out a Post-It pad and scribbled something down on it. He ripped it off and handed it to Lee.

"Listen Lee," Double D said, "Can you slip this under Marie's door, for me please?" he asked.

"Sure thing." she said, as everybody was busy doing something, Marie was still in her room, oblivious to anything going on outside, sobbing. Lee walked up to her door and slipped the note under it. Marie stopped crying for a minute and went over to pick it up. She wiped her eyes on her arms as she read the note. It was in perfect print, and said:

"_Tell Marie I love her,_

_Tell Marie I need her,_

_Tell Marie not to cry, _

_My love for her, _

_Will never die." _


	37. Chapter XXXVII

Chapter XXXVII

"Carlo, is everything hooked up accordingly?" Double D asked him, as he walked over to the steel guitar that was standing there.

"Yeah, I think so." Carlo said, standing up from squatting. "Give it a pluck."

Double D took and plucked a string on it. The sound was loud, but not loud enough for him.

"Perci, turn up all the amps to 10, please." Double D told him.

"But Double D, don't you think that's overdoin' it just a little?" Perci asked.

"Please Perci, just do it." Double D said nicely.

"Alright, it's your show." he said as he turned up all the knobs.

Way in the bushes, Col. Moore was squatting, watching everything that was going on.

"That kid is just too in love for his own good." he said to himself.

As Double D was getting ready for everything, he looked at Carlo with a face as if to say, "Please, get lost." Carlo could take the hint, and snapped his finger to the other two boys.

"Fellas, let's amscray. We need to let Double D be alone for this." Carlo said, as the three walked over into the shrubury.

"Hey, good luck." Perci said as they all disappeared into the bushes right next the road, with a front row view of the whole thing. Carlo made a motion with his arm, and Lenny drove the Cadillac up into the bushes.

"What's goin' on?" Lenny asked, as he hopped out of the driver's seat. The other three were crouched behind a bush, looking on.

"Get down here!" Carlo said, pulling Lenny down by the shoulder, "And be quiet. Just watch and learn."

Ed, Eddy, Lee, and May were all standing there as well. They took the hint from Carlo.

"Well Ed, we better be goin' too." Eddy said, looking up at Ed.

"Yeah, let's go." Ed said. The two walked over and hid behind a bush on the oppisite side of the road of which Carlo and the boys were on.

"We should get goin' too May, come on!" Lee said, starting to walk toward the bushes.

"Alright, alright Lee! Keep your pants on!" May said as she followed right behind her. They went and hid behind a bush near Ed and Eddy's. They looked on as well.

"What gonna happen?" May asked.

"Just watch and see." Lee said pointing.

Double D started playing some chords on the steel guitar, warming up. The sound could be heard all the way in the cul-de-sac, where it woke up all the kids. They all walked up to the trailer park and stood around in the bushes.

"What is this larping Rolf hears? Is it the upchucking of an angel?" Rolf asked, in his pajamas, looking from behind a tree.

"What's going on Sarah? What is Double D doing?" Jimmy asked, also in his pajamas, holding on to a teddy bear.

"I don't know Jimmy, I guess Double D is gonna play some music." Sarah replied, shrugging her shoulders.

Johnny and Plank were alwo there. Johnny was in his usual clothes, and held Plank within his hands as he watched from behind some tall weeds.

"Oh boy Plank, I hope you brought your tissue box, cause this sure is gonna be a cry fest." Johnny said, watching. By this time Ms. Kanker had come out of the house, and saw what was going on. She walked down the road, as to not be detected, and saw Rod pulling up in his Buick and parking about 10 feet away from the trailer park. He got out and ran to Barbara, and she hugged him as he did.

"Rod, they're-" Barbara started.

"I know, Double D already called me and told me. Let's go hide and watch like everyone else." he said, as he grabbed her hand as they jumped in the grass and looked on like everyone else.

Marie was in her room, crying, sitting on the edge of her bed. She had no idea of the commotion outside. Until she heard a loud voice coming from a microphone. It was Double D.

"This is dedicated to the one I love." he said, in a soft, sincere voice. Marie noticed his soft voice, and walked over to the window, and opened it. She sat her arms down on the windo sill as she watched. Her crying had stopped. And her eyes lit up.

Double D plucked the strings a little more, than cleared his voice. He started playing the opening to one of Buddy Holly's most beautiful songs, that he had spent a whole day memorizing. He opened his voice and started singing in an angelic voice.

"Just you know why,

Why you and I,

Will by and by,

Know true love ways.

Sometimes, we'll cry.

Sometimes, we'll sigh.

And we'll know why

Just you and I

Know true love ways."

Marie started to see tears roll down her cheeck as he played. They were not tears of sorrow. They were of joy.

And after Double D got done with the first part, everybody heard ominous saxophone playing from somewhere. They didn't know where. However, there was a shadow of a man with a saxophone in the woods. A man with round glasses and black clothes. Double D continued playing.

"Throughout the days...

Our True Love Ways,...

Will bring us

Joys to share,

With those who really care.

Sometimes, we'll sigh.

Sometimes, we'll cry.

And we'll know why

Just you and I,

Know True Love Ways."

As Double D and the saxophone player played out the instrumental part, Marie was sobbing for joy. Double D himself could feel a joyful tear roll down his cheek. Everyone else just watched, holding back tears.

"Throughout the days...

Our True Love Ways,...

Will bring us joys

To share,

With those who really care...

Sometimes, we'll sigh.

Sometimes, we'll cry.

And we'll know why,

Just you and I,

Know True Love Wayyyyys..."

He finished singing, and could feel a couple more tears running down his face. He looked up to Marie, who was crying and smiling at him out of the window.

"So what do you say Marie, will you come and go with Edd?" he asked.

Marie said nothing, but climbed out of the window, and ran and embraced him with happiness, as the two kissed in the light of the moon.

Everybody just looked with sobbing eyes, and applauded them through tears. They were all out in the open now, encircling the two of them.

"Rolf's pain water has been released! I have been vanquished!" Rolf said through sobs.

Sarah and Jimmy just cried on each other's shoulders, without saying a word.

May and Lee were hugging each other sobbing.

"Oh Lee, that was just too beautiful!" May said through cries.

Eddy and Ed were standing next to each other, crying as well.

"Butter toast Eddy, butter toast!" Ed said, wailing.

"I'm right there with ya Ed!" Eddy said, putting his eyes in his arms.

The four boys were standing there: Carlo, Perci, Toni, and Lenny. All of them were fighting back the strongest tears.

"I told myself I wasn't gonna do this! I promised myself I won't gonna do this! But I never keep my promises! Oh, boys..." Carlo said as he started wailing. The other three started to sob as well.

"I haven't cried this much since I saw _Titanic_, TWICE!" Perci sobbed behind his sunglasses, holding up two fingers. The four boys gathered in one group huddle, crying.

Rod and Barbara only stood there, tears rolling down their eyes.

"This has got to be the sweetest thing I have ever seen!" Barbara said, holding on to Rod's hands.

"Not as sweet as you." he said, looking into her eyes.

"Oh, Rod!" she said as the two embraced and kissed as well.

Over in the group, Carlo and the boys were still crying, but Carlo harder than any of them. He turned back to Lenny, who was leaning against the car trunk, sobbing.

"Hey Lenny, hand me one of those Kleenexes in ya trunk will ya! Lenny..." Carlo said.

"Sure thing, Carlo," Lenny said in between his own cries. "Here ya go."

"Thanks Lenny." Carlo said, grabbing the tissue and blowing his nose, still crying. He turned around and noticed that Lenny had 10 boxes of Kleenex in his trunk.

"Lenny, you big lummox!" Carlo said, blowing his nose, "Whatcha doin' with all them tissues, man?"

Lenny just shrugged his shoulders.

Carlo looked around and saw everybody was still sobbing. Through his own sobs, Perci looked on with a smile.

"Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Perci asked with the same grin.

"Oh, I think so!" Carlo said. He got up on the car and whistled with his hands.

"Hey everybody listen up, step up and getcha Kleenexes right here! We got Kleenexes right here! Only three bucks a box. Just pay my man Lenny at the trunk. Get em while they last cause they're goin' fast!" he said.

Everybody rushed over, tears flying every where, with dollar bills in their hands, and soon the entire trunk was empty of tissues. Lenny stood there, counting the money.

Everybody started blowing their nose and wiping their eyes. Including Double D and Marie. They wiped each others. They sat on the stoop of the trailer, looking into each other's eyes.

"Double D, I love you so much!" Marie said, grabbing his hands.

"And I love you Marie Kanker!" Double D replied back. The two locked lips, as everybody cheered them on.

Carlo jumped down from the car and turned to Perci.

"Hey, Perci, can you get the battery-powered turntable and records out of the trunk, will ya?" he said.

"Sure thing." Perci said as he grabbed them out.

"Alright, over here." Carlo said, walking to the amplifiers. He hooked the turntable up to the amps, and spoke into the microphone, as everybody turned and listened.

"Listen up everybody. In celebration of the reuniting of Double D and Marie, we're gonna have a little celebration tonight. So don't go nowhere, cause we are gonna buggalu till we puke!" Carlo said. Everybody cheered in applause. Carlo picked up the first record and placed it on the turntable.

"Alright everybody, let's buggy with this first tune." he said, placing the needle on. Everybody gathered around. The song that started was "It's Alirght" By Adam Faith. It started out is a bluesy fashion, as everybody listened.

_Well if you want me it's alright,_

_It's alright,_

_It's alright,_

_Well if you want me it's alright,_

_It's alright,_

_It's alright._

The song then paused, and the rock and roll began as everybody started dancing.

_Well if ya want me it's alright,_

_It's alright,_

_It's alright,_

_Well, if ya want me it's alright._

_It's alirght,_

_It's alriiiiiight!_

_Want me!_

_Anytime that you want me!_

_Anytime that you want me!_

_Any you're feelin' too fine!_

_You know how,..._

_How I love ya believe me._

_How I love ya believe me!_

_If ya want me it's alright!..._

Everybody was dancing like crazy. Double D and Marie were going at it, Ed and May were swingin' around, Eddy and Lee were cuttin' a rug. Johnny and Plank were kickin' old school, Jimmy and Sarah were dancing around, and Rolf was just hopping up and down. And of course Barbara was gettin' at it with Rod. The four boys were showin' off some swing-a-ding-ding moves themselves, as they were gathered around the turntable. Everybody was having lots of fun again, and all that sorrow turned into happiness.

Fr. Espicce, having packed up his sax, jumped out of the woods and yelled "Watch this!" as he started dancing like a fool and was just as giddy as he could be. Every laughed and applauded him as he finished up.

_Give me!_

_All the love that you got dear!_

_All the love that you got dear!_

_Come and hold me real tight._

_I really!_

_Really love you a lot dear!_

_really love you so what dear!_

_And if you want me it's alright!_

_It's alright_

_It's alright,_

_And if ya want me it's alright,_

_It's alright,_

_It's alriiight!_

Everyone was dog tired and happy as clowns as they the record died down. Most of the couples kissed. Rod ran in the trailer as fast as he could.

"Rod honey, we're are you going?" Barbara cried out.

"Just hold on, I'll be back in a sec!" he said as he went in. He came back out a little later with a vinyl record in his hands and went up to Carlo, who was at the turntable with the other three boys.

"Hey, disk jockey, dedicate this to the one I love!" he said, handing Carlo the record.

"Okay." Carlo said. He brought the microphone to his mouth and spoke up. Everybody turned around to listen.

"Alright everybody, this one is dedicated to Barbara Kanker and Rod Van Wilmer!" he said, placing the record on as everybody clapped, as Barbara and Rod went to the center, and everybody gathered around.

_Ba-ba-ba-ba-babara Ann,_

_Ba-ba-ba-ba-babara Ann,_

_Barbara Ann!_

_(Ba-ba-ba-ba-babara Ann,)_

_Take my hand,_

_(Ba-ba-ba-ba-babara Ann,)_

_Barbara Ann_

_You got me rockin' and a rollin'_

_rockin' and a realin'_

_Barbara Ann_

_(Ba-ba-ba-ba-babara Ann,)_

_Ba-ba-ba-ba-babara Ann,_

_Went to a dance,_

_Lookin' for romance._

_I saw Barbara Ann so,_

_I thought I'd take a chance_

_Barbara Ann, Barbara Ann,_

_Take my hand,_

_Oh, Barbara Ann, Barbara Ann,_

_take my hand,_

_You got me rockin' and a rollin'_

_Rockin' and a realin'_

_Barbara Ann_

_Ba-ba-ba-ba-babara Ann,_

The two were dancing as everybody clapped their hands. Some of the kids were cheering them on, and Fr. Espicce started everybody clapping their hands to the rythem.

No one could have been more happier.

Author's note:

the link to True Love Ways, by Buddy Holly. In my opinion, the most beautiful piece of music ever recorded. When listening, just imagine Double D singing:

watch?v=QjFRHIhSvwc

It's alright:

watch?v=QtAc_CtmW7A

Barbara Ann:

watch?v=iUghPkBXLIc


	38. Chapter XXXVIII

The songs used in this chapter:

watch?v=9r2pEdc1_lI

watch?v=1jVECp5Dzp4

watch?v=j-uiIS5y_W0

Chapter XXXVIII

After the song, the kids just stood around, talking amongst each other, while the adults all went inside. Fr. Espicce, Barbara, and Rod Went up inside the trailer, when Rod saw Col. Moore standing at the road, just watching. He turned around and slowly walked down the road, back the house. Rod couldn't help feeling bad for him, being all alone and all. But he just turned around and went back in the house.

Double D and Marie were now up and talking with everyone. Carlo and Rolf were talking together, when Eddy walked up to him.

"Carlo, right?" Eddy asked, making sure that was his name.

"Yeah, excuse me Rolfy, I gotta bust this seen and ca-ruz with Eddy here.

"Meatball Ed boy sounds like a broken banana peel to Rolf. Have fun, yes!" Rolf said, going over to talk with Ed.

"Alright Eddy, what do ya need?" Carlo asked, taking a comb out of his back pocket, popping his can of pomade, swiping his comb in it, and going back over his hair part with it, before putting the comb and pomade back in his pocket, all in record time. Eddy was quite impressed.

"Whoa, those were some slick moves right there, where'd you learn to foam the comb like that?" Eddy asked, very impressed.

"Oh, that, it just comes with practice, Eddy my boy. Tricks of the trade, trade secrets. Ova a long period of time, it just comes to ya as,...as an automatic reaction, if you can catch what I'm throwin'." Carlo said.

"You mean, you've been doin' it so long, that is just comes to you?" Eddy asked.

"That's right, it just comes to me. It takes a while to get the hang of it, but you get used to it. Now the real trick is usin' the right amount of grease. If you use too little, bada-bing, cowlick city. If you use too much, your're gonna gave another Exxon-Valdise on ya hands." Carlo said, motioning with his hands.

"So you guys, are you in the Ma-" Eddy started.

"Hush man," Carlo said, slapping his hand over Eddy's mouth, "you don't go mentionin' that kinda stuff around the interlopers like that. That's a big mistake talkin' like that. Quick way to get yourself killed." he said, making a fist.

"Sorry man, well are you?" Eddy asked again. Carlo just sighed.

"Look, let's just say we,...prepare and make aware, if ya catch my drift." Carlo said, bringing Eddy's ear close to his mouth.

"So, who shoved Kevin in a trash can? We had to go and fish em out. Man, he was messed up. It was hillarious. You should have seen it. Man, he was, he was wailing like 'Don't hurt me, don't hurt me!' ah man, that was funny. Anyway, what happened to him?" Eddy asked.

"Fell in a rock quarry." Carlo said, winking.

"He-he-he," Eddy said, chuckling. "Serves him right. He deserved every piece of it." Eddy said.

"Yeah, don't I know it. And listen, you didn't hear this from me, but sources indicate he'll be bustin' outta here come tomorrow, if ya catch me." Carlo said, leaning in to Eddy's ear.

"Good ridence as far as I'm concerned. He was just a no good dork anyway. You know, he spent all that time callin' other people 'dork' because secretly, he was mad because he was a dork himself." Eddy said.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. But he's a page right outta history now. Nuttin' we can do but wish the door knob hits his ass on the way out!" Carlo said as the two started laughing.

"You know, but I have to wonder: how did you pull off that scam like that? I mean, you practically had those suckers eatin' outta the palm of your hand! How'd ya do it?" Eddy demanded.

"Well Eddy, they don't call me the Great Crooker for nuttin'. Ya see, I run the scammin' in Lemonbrook. That whole scene, all me. Ya see, the first thing to a good scam, is know ya sucker. Lookin' around this place, you ain't got too many apples to pick from. But that don't matter. But you hafta get to know ya sucker. What do they like? What do they want? You have to put yourself it in their place. What would you want if you were a sucker? Think like them." Carlo said.

"Think like them? What else?" Eddy asked.

"Well, you hafta tell them that they need what you're tryin' to scam. Don't just throw anything out there. Throw what they want. Entice. Delight, then they will come. Next you gotta appreciate ya sucker. Don't let them know that you just wanna scam em outta money. Act like you actually care about them." Carlo said. Eddy was simply amazed by his expertise. He got down on his knees with his hands together.

"Please, teach me your ways!" Eddy begged.

"Get up you noodlehead!" Carlo said.

"Sorry." Eddy said, getting back up. Carlo put his arm around Eddy's shoulders and said.

"Eddy, I have a feelin' this is the begininnin' of a bee-utiful friendship!" Carlo said, as they walked off, talking about the art and sciences of scamming.

Perci was leaning against the side of trailer, with his eyes on Sarah. He had been watching her all night, though in a secretive fashion. He was infatuated by her. He thought she was the most beauitful woman ever made. It was about 10:00 PM now, and Jimmy had just left to go home to go to sleep. Sarah was just standing there, all alone. Perci decided it was time to go in for the kill.

"Hey little lady, what's your name?" Perci asked, adjusting his sunglasses.

Sarah, just stood there, with a nervous smile. She found Perci quite attractive, and found his sweet quality just fine. She didn't know quite what to say.

"My name's Sarah." she said, nervous. Perci had equal nervousness, and even though he tried to act tuff all the time, he really had a pretty soft heart.

"How old are you, Sarah?" Perci asked.

"I'm 14 silly. I'm a year younger than my brother Ed." she said.

"Ed's ya brother?" he asked, not seeing much resemblence between them, besides the hair.

"Yep." she said. "So, are you related to Double D? You look a lot like him." Sarah asked.

"Oh, yeah, he's my first cousin. I'm 14 too. I'm Carlo's brother, that's him with Eddy over there." he said, pointing.

"Oh, okay." she said. both just smiled at each other.

Out of nowhere, Johnny came running up, holding up Plank.

"Back away from her!" he screamed "Or I will use Plank!"

"Who's Plank?" Perci asked, "That piece of wood, that's plank?"

"Don't test me!" Johnny said.

"BACK OFF JOHNNY!" Sarah screamed at him. Johnny just muttered and walked off with Plank.

"Sorry about that." she said in a sweet voice.

"No problem." he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"So, I take it you're not from around here?" Sarah asked, noticing his thick Bronx-y accent.

"Oh, no, we're originally from New York City." Perci said. "But we live in Lemonbrook now, but we're actually going to be moving into your cul-de-sac before school starts. Our dad wants us to go to high school with Double D, so we'll be movin' in over there next month." Perci said.

"Oh, that's great." she said in a dreamy voice.

"Why is that-" he was cut off by Carlo, who was now up at the microphone.

"Alright people, listen up. We gotta blow outta here soon, so this is out last song, before we split. This is a couples song, so all non-couples are asked to participate. This is also a slow dance. So grab your guy or gal, and have at it!" Carlo said, putting the record on the player. It was "Only You" by the Platters.

Perci got real nervous, then spoke up.

"You care to dance?" he asked Sarah, scared of rejection.

"I would love to." Sarah said, batting her eyes at him.

Double D and Marie, Ed and May, Eddy and Lee, and Perci and Sarah all got together as the music started.

_Only You..._

_Can make this world seem right._

_Only you..._

_Can make the darkness bright._

_Only you,_

_And you alone_

_Can thrill me_

_like ya do._

_And fill my heart with love_

_For only you..._

_Only you..._

_Can make all this change in me._

_For it's true,_

_you are my destiny_

_When you hold my hand,_

_I understand the magic that you do,_

_You're my dream come true,_

_My one and only you.._

_Aha-a Only you..._

_Can make all this change in me..._

_For it's true,_

_You are my destiny._

_When you hold my hand,_

_I understand_

_the magic that you do._

_You're my dream come true,_

_My one and only..._

_you..._

_(one and only you...)_

As the song played, the four couples held each other close as they slow danced. Perci and Sarah much more awkwardly, since they're weren't a real couple. Carlo and Toni exchanged smiles for Perci, as he was finally happy. After the song was over, everyone dispersed, and started to pack things up. Perci and Sarah just went over and looked at each other for a few moments, away from everyone else.

"That was really nice Perci. You're a real good dancer." Sarah said.

"Thanks, you too." Perci said, taking off his Ray Ban Blues Brothers sunglasses, exposing his eyes, as he looked into her eyes. "Sarah, I don't wanna sound too hasty, but I think you're really special, and I really like you." he said, grabbing her hands. She stared into his eyes dreamily.

"I really like you too." she said, blushing a little. Two looked at each other for a little longer, leaning closer and closer every second. After 30 seconds, they fully leaned in and embraced, and kissed. So many things were racing through both of their heads. The amazing feeling both felt was rapturous, estatic, amorous, and glorious. The feeling was unmatched by anything this earth could withold. Be be contained and described in one word, that feeling was love.

_Ohhhhhhhh_

_Hot diggity dog,_

_ziggity boom_

_what ya do to me._

_It's so new to me._

_What ya do to me._

_Hot diggity dog,_

_ziggity boom_

_what ya do to me,_

_when you're holding me tight._

_Never dreamed anybody could kiss that away._

_Bring me bliss that away,_

_What a kiss that away._

_What a wonderful feelin'_

_to feel that away._

_tell me where have you been all my life..._

The two held each other before they both heard their names being called.

"Perci, come on! We gotta burn rubber!" Carlo said.

"Sarah, come on, we gotta get home!" Ed called.

"Well, I guess I can see ya around, huh?" Perci said.

"Hang on a sec, do you have a pen?" Sarah asked him.

"Oh yeah, sure." he said, taking one out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"Hand me your hand" she said.

"Huh?"

"Hand me your hand, please." she said.

He stuck his hand out and she wrote 7 digits on his palm.

"Call me sometime." she said, as she pecked him on the cheeck and skipped off.

"Coming Ed!" she yelled.

Perci stood there for a few minutes, still in shock. He then walked back to the around to say good bye. Carlo was already there saying goodbye to Double D and Marie.

"So Double D, I'll catch ya around. Ya know where movin' next month, so be prepared." he said.

"Yes, I will ready myself. And thank you greatly for all you've done Carlo. You're a great cousin." Double D responded.

"And Marie," Carlo said, "you're a beautiful young lady, and I'm proud to have you datin' my cousin." he said, smiling.

"Why thank you, and it was nice to meet you." Marie said, blushing. Perci, Tony, and Lenny said their goodbyes as well. Carlo then went up to Eddy.

"See ya man, we'll have to talk a little more on scammin'. It really is an art. Well, see ya." he said to Eddy.

"See ya." Eddy said.

"Bye everybody, we're signin' off and checkin' out!" Carlo said, as the four boys piled into the Cadillac.

"Bye." Double D, Marie, Lee, Eddy, and May said in unison.

Two couples left went off to be alone for a minute. Lee went back inside, for she had already said goodbye to Ed, who was already gone with Sarah.

Double D turned to Marie and took her hands.

"I am very satisfied to be graced with your presence again." Double D told her, looking her in her eyes. She returned the look.

"I happy to be back with you too, Oven Mitt." she said, embracing him. "Just don't let it slip up this time."

"Oh, I can assure you of that." he said. "I'll never let you go."

_Oh, my darling,_

_I'll never, ever let you go._

_I can hear those three lovely_

_words in my ear:_

_whisperin' "she loves you esse."_

_My heart pumps a beat_

_like a rabbit in the fields_

_And I know, our love,_

_is a-reaaaaaaaaaal!_

The love was, is, and always will be real.


	39. Chapter XXXIX

The song at the end of the story:

watch?v=vxE1CiG8MM8

Chapter XXXIX

Just as Col. Moore was getting home, he walked into through the door and took of his cap, hanging it on the rack next to the door. It was now about 11:00 that night, and he was overly tired. He had a bad five o'clock shadow and had red, baggy eyes. This whole day had taken a toll on him. All he wanted to do now was lay down and go to sleep. But he couldn't. So he just fumbled into the kitchen, and went to make himself a pot of coffee.

"Now, where's the stupid coffee at?" he asked himself, fumbling around in the cabinets until he found the can of Maxwell House.

He felt it vaguely ironic that he felt so much like a guest, or even total stranger, in his own home. He was here so infrequently, that he knew the contents and whereabouts of your average taxi cab than he did about his own house, that he had paid for with his own, hard earned money. The fact that he hadn't even seen his wife in 8 months. The fact that he very seldom ever saw his son. As he poured the water into the machine, he began to question his position as a father. Who was going to show his son how to be a man? Who was going to be a role model for Double D? Who was going to help him out when he has no one else to turn to? Was he really cut out to be a parent? Was he really made for the job? He thought about the fact that he also did not grow up with a father. The very fact that he had never experienced the tender yet tough relationship of that of a father and son. His own father's vain and untimely death had left him grasping for straws at a time when a father would have been nice to have. But he had an excuse for growing up lacking a father. Double D did not. He should have been there more. He should have cared more.

As soon as the coffee was finished, he went and poured himself a large mug and took it back to the living room. He cut the TV on to _The Late Show with David Letterman. _He sipped his coffee infrequently, not really paying attention to anything. As he sat there, dwelling on his thoughts , he heard a car pull up outside. At first he didn't think too much of it, and just ignored it. Then he heard footsteps up the sidewalk. His suspicions were proven when he heard a knock at the door. He got up to answer it, and walked over and stood in front of it. His jaw dropped to the ground as he opened it, and saw his wife standing there.

Mrs. Moore was a short woman, about 5'3". She had dark brown, almost brunette hair, that was cut short, very similar to Marie's and Ms. Kanker's. She had on a honey colored blouse and brown skirt. She was of normal waist size, for her age anyway. He had a relatively young looking face, despite her age. She had the most beautiful blue eyes, and dark eyelashes.

"Maria, oh Maria!" Col. Moore said as he grabbed her in an embrace. She held her head to his shoulder as she started to tear up. It was difficult for her to see him, being it had been so long. They kissed for a long time, enjoyed every splendorous moment of it. She walked in afterwards and took his hand as they walked into the living room. She sat down on the couch next to him, both of them still with beaming smiles.

"Mary, I can't tell ya how nice it is to have you here and everything. I mean, I haven't seen you in so long, and well, we're almost never in this house together. I mean, I just,…I don't know what to say. I don't know what to think. I only know what I feel, and what I feel is love. I love you so much Mary, and I can't stand not seeing you as much as I do. I need you Mary, I need you." Col. Moore said, grabbing her hands into his.

"Well, I've missed you too, Edward. I don't like go going all over creation about as much as you. I would love to stay here, and be a mother all the time. I want nothing more than to be a mother. I mean, Edd needs me to be here. He probably misses not having a parent around." she said.

"What are you getting at, Mary?" he asked her.

"What I'm getting at is that I might decide to find a local law job here. I mean, I have the credentials, and definently have the experience. No self-serving law place in the city wouldn't hire me. I have to come back home, Ed. I have to come back to what I know." she said, expecting him to criticize her for saying that.

"I couldn't agree more." he said smiling. "You know, I have been thinking the same thing. Tomorrow, when I go back to the base, I am going to put in for a cushy little desk job at the base. Not something too demanding, but modest." he said.

"Do you think that they'll let you do that?" she asked.

"Of course." he said, "the general has been trying to get me to take the satelitte operations commander job for years. I know he'll let me do it. And that means I'll be here all the time. I'll be able to come home everyday, and spend time with Edd everyday, and you everyday. I'll be a real parent. I'll be a real husband, and dad! Oh my goodness, is this really happening?" Edward asked, not believing the happiness that was coming to his ears.

"I think it is, and I'm here to spend it here with you." she said, placing her hand on his knee. He smiled devilishly at her, with a school boy grin.

"Let's do it." he said, "It'll be the best thing for all of us." he said.

The two sat on the couch, and kissed like two teenagers in love. They practically were.

After the make-out session, they sat back up, and talked some more.

"Did you know that my brother Vince is moving into the neighborhood? And so is Vinny, your brother." he said.

"Really, why are they doing that?" she asked.

"Because they want Carlo, Perci, and Toni to go to high school with Double D. For what reason I couldn't tell you. But it will be terrific having some new kids in the cul-de-sac. Double D and his friends need some more people to hang out with." he said.

"Oh my, that is fantastic. I can't wait to talk to Sophie and Margret, you know, they have the best book club and sewing club this side of the Ohio River. I can't wait till they move in. You, Vinny, and Vince can do man stuff together, with Tom and Edwin. It'll be wonderful." she said, smiling.

"Hey, did you know that Edd has a girlfriend now." he said.

"Get outta here!" she said.

Edward took the time to tell Mary the entire story of how they fell in love, dated, broke up, and got back together.

"….and I just got back two hours ago." he said, finishing up.

"Wow, that is one story. I'm so happy for him. This Marie sounds like a real nice girl."

"Oh, she is Mary. She is absolutely wonderful." said.

The two sat there and talked some more about their travels when Double D walked in the door, absolutely exhausted. He saw his mother and was near tears.

"Mother!" he cried as he ran to her.

"Edd!" she cried as she stood up. The two embraced.

"Oh mother, it is so lovely to see you!" Double D as he hugged her tight.

"Oh, my special boy, it is so nice to see you too." she said, hugging him even tighter. As soon as the two stopped, they all sat down on the sofa.

"Edward, we have something very important to tell you." Col. Moore said, looking at Double D.

"Well, what could that be?" Double D asked.

Mr. and Mrs. Moore then explained to Double D how they were going to rearrange their career situations so that they could be together again.

"So, we will become a functioning family once more?" Double D asked, tears in his eyes.

"Well son, that's right." Col. Moore said, nodding his head.

The family hugged, in a tight group hug.

"Geez, what a night!" Col. Moore said, as everyone went to bed. But Col. Moore and Mary did something besides sleeping.

Back at the Kanker trailer, Fr. Espicce had gone back to the parish, and just Rod and Barbara were left in the kitchen, sitting at the table. Right after everyone left, the three sisters came in, and sat down on the couch. Rod and Barbara came in and sat down in some chairs around them.

"That was some night, huh girls?" Rod said, smiling.

"Yeah, I would say so." Marie said, yawning.

"Yeah, it was pretty crazy." Lee said, stretching her arms. "I'm just happy everyone's happy again. I don't wanna go through all that crazy depressin' stuff anymore."

"I don't think any of us do, Lee." Barbara said, yawning herself.

"Ain't that the truth." Rod said, yawning.

"Well, I'm just glad to see you two happy again." May said.

"Well May, I think we're happy that you guys are all together again. Marie, you just don't know how much stress we all went through with the break up. It affected us all." Barbara said.

"Yeah, sorry about that guys. I guess I just let my emotions get carried away. Like Father Espicce said, emotions come from the mind, love comes from the soul." Marie said.

"Man, that guy is just on sage saying after another, isn't he? Man, you can't cut that guy off!" Rod said, leaning forward In his chair slightly.

"Say what you will Rodney, but he helped us out more than anybody did. He is a life saver. Without him, I don't think any of us could have emotionally got through it. He was the best of help. And yes, he can get carried away with the wise, heartfelt sayings, but it's all for the best. And he wouldn't be Fr. Espicce if he didn't." Barbara said.

"That's true." Rod said.

"Marie, I'm just glad you found your love in Double D again. I knew you loved him too much to completely let go. He meant too much to you. You were in complete. As Father Espicce said, with love, out of two come one. One in the bond of matrimony." Barbara said with a smile.

"Speaking on that,.." Rod said, as he shocked everyone by coming out of nowhere, and getting in front of Barbara, who was still sitting in her chair.

"Barbara, I have something very important to ask you." he said, as he got down on one knee in front of her. She was on the verge of tears, and so were the three girls, as he pulled a small black box out of his pants pocket.

"Barbara Kanker, will you become Mrs. Barbara Van Wilmer again, by remarrying me." he asked, opening the box in front of her. Inside it was their original engagement ring, which had held onto for the last 5 years, almost as if he was anticipating this very moment. He looked deep into her eyes, searching for an answer.

"Yes!" she said, standing up, tears rolling down, "yes I will!" grabbing him in an embrace as they kissed.

"Girls, this day just keeps getting better and better!" Lee said, wiping her eyes with her arm.

"Oh Rodney, you remembered after all these years!" Barbara said, wiping her eyes, and she slipped her ring on her ring finger.

"Well girls, we're a family again." Barbara said to them, smiling.

"At last, at last." Lee said.

"Well mom, we better be going to bed. This has been a long day." Lee said.

"I'll second that!" Marie said, getting up off the sofa.

"Third!" May said, following them to the bedroom.

"Night girls." Barbara and Rodney said in unison.

"Well, I better be getting to bed as well." Rod said.

"Oh no, you're comin' to bed with me!" Barbara said in a seductive voice.

"Oh boy!" Rod said with a smile.

"Whoa, too much news at once!" Lee said, as everybody laughed.

With that being said, everybody went to bed. At least the kids anyway.

The next morning, the sun finally had a happy neighborhood to great. Rod had gotten up and left early that morning. He said that he had business to attend to. Around 11 o'clock that morning, the sisters were sitting in the living room, watching talk shows on TV. Barbara was in the kitchen, listening to Michael Savage on talk radio.

Rod pulled up outside and walked into the house. He had a serious look on his face.

"Where's your mother?" he asked.

"She's in the kitchen." Lee said, a little scared. Barbara came in the living room, as soon as she heard her name mentioned.

"What's going on?" Barbara asked.

"Well, we better get going." Rod replied.

"What are you talking about?" Barbara asked.

"We better get going to the house." Rod said.

"What house?" she asked.

"The one we're moving into." Rod said with a smile.

"Oh Rod, oh Rod, you mean it?" Barbara asked, on the verge of sobbing.

"That's right." he said. "Girls, remember that night when I asked Eddy about how the cul-de-sac was, and how the houses were?" he asked them.

They all nodded.

"Well, last week I went and looked, and found a wonderful home in the cul-de-sac. I took the $40,000 I have left in saving and put a down payment on it. It's ready when ever we are." Rod said, grinning still.

"Oh Rod, you're the best!" Barbara said, embracing him with a big smile.

"Ya hear that girls? We're movin' on up!" Lee said, smiling.

"Yeah, and we'll be right there at out boyfriends." Marie said.

"And I'll get to spend every night with Big Ed." May said.

"And we can get out of this trailer trash hell on wheels!" Barbara said.

They all laughed at her statement.

"Well, what are we waitin' for, let's go!" Rod said, as everybody ran outside and piled into the car.

Back at Double D's house, he and his mother were waiting for Lt. Col. Moore to return home. He had left to talk with the general at 0500 hours.

At about 11:30, he came back inside. There was definently something different with his unifrom, but no one noticed. Double D turned to him and Mary came into the room.

"I got the position!" he screamed. Mary ran up and hugged him, and Double D stood up to address him.

"But that's not all." he said, "I have been officially promoted by the United States Air Force from Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel. I am full bird!" he said, showing off his new shinny metal insignia on his dress uniform.

"What does that mean, father?" Double D asked.

"Well Edd, it means more pay, lots more, and more priority. I am one rank away from general!" he said.

"I'm very proud of ya uncle, very proud." Carlo said as he walked into the living room. He, Perci, and Toni had been in the kitchen.

"Oh, hey boys. And thanks. Man, could this get any better or what!" Col. Moore said.

"Hey Double D," Carlo said, snapping his finger, "hows about we head outside. There is somethin' you're gonna wanna see."

"Okay." Double D said, as he followed the three boys. Outside the house, Lenny was leaning against the Cadillac, talking to Fr. Espicce, who was standing beside him. They were arguing over whose car was better.

Also, by this time, the Van Wilmers pulled up in Rod's car and piled out. Ed and Eddy were walking up to Double D and the boys as this was happening.

"Hey, Double D, just wait till you hear this." Eddy said, walking up to him.

"What is that Eddy?" Double D asked.

"Kevin's dad found out about what he did, and he sent him to military school! Can you believe that, sent him off this morning, and he'll be there till he turns 18! Oh man you gotta love it!" Eddy said. "Hey, look, it's out ladies."

The three couples embraced, and hugged each other. Double D turned to Barbara and Rod.

"Excuse me, but my mother and father are in the house, if you would like to go see them." he told them.

"Oh, wonderful. Let's go Rod." Barbara said as her and Rod went into the house.

Carlo walked up to Fr. Espicce, and started to talk to him in Italian.

"Così, padre, dal momento che stiamo andando essere in movimento qui, penso che andremo alla vostra parrocchia ora." Carlo said.

"True, true, but you all are welcomed into my parish, anytime." Fr. Espicce said.

Out of the corner of his eye, Perci saw Sarah running up to him and embrace him. He had called her that night, and they talked for hours.

"Oh, it's so good to see you again, Perci. I can't wait till you guys move." Sarah said, as they kissed.

"Yeah, it's gonna be great. But not better than you." he said.

"Oh Perci." Sarah said, giggling.

All of a sudden, Eddy called out for everyone in the cul-de-sac to watch.

"Alright everybody, stand by for justice!" Eddy screamed, as he mounted Ed's back like a horse.

"What on earth is he doing?" Double D asked.

"Just watch and learn." Carlo said.

Eddy yelled "YAH" as Ed galloped as fast as he could, and he rammed into Kevin's garage door, tearing it off. Out of it poured hundreds of jawbreakers that Kevin had been stingily hoarding all those years. Everybody went and grabbed two or three jawbreakers a piece. Rolf stuffed them into his pockets. Everybody had at least three of them. When Ed and Eddy walked back down, everyone applauded them. Even Fr. Espicce, who was really just a kid inside. He also grabbed a couple of them.

"Oh, Double D, I have something to tell you!" Marie said, grabbing his hand. She told him all about the engagement and the moving.

"Oh Marie, this is just wonderful." Double D said, lost for words.

"I told you happiness was the reward." Fr. Espicce said, smiling.

"Oh Fr. Espicce!" Everyone said in unison, then they chuckled.

With a jawbreaker in every pocket and a smile on everyone's face, Double D and Marie, Ed and May, Eddy and Lee, and Perci and Sarah all stood, holding hands. Everyone had finally received the happiness they deserved. The couples all leaned in and kissed each other.

Carlo leaned in and spoke to Fr. Espicce.

"Ain't love bee-utiful, Padre?" he asked, smiling.

"Oh, love isn't just beautiful, Carlo. Love _is_ beauty." Fr. Espicce replied.

The couples continued to kiss as the noon sun shinned above them. The events of the last 3 weeks had changed each of their individual lives for good. They each had found their true happiness, within themselves, and with in the ones they loved.

And the rest is true love ways….

_So this is love…real love…_

_And it's like Paradise..oh yes_

_Really a paradise..._

_For you and for me..._

_So this is love..real love.._

_And it's so wonderful.. oh yes.._

_Even more wonderful.._

_Than I thought it could be..._

_Not long ago I didn't know.._

_What this thing called love was about.._

_Now that you're here, now that you're near.._

_Each beat of my heart cries out, _

_so...this is love...real love_

_And it's so heavenly...oh yes._

_It's very plain to see _

_We're really in love._

_Oh yes, so this is love..._

_Oh yes, so this is love..._

Not the end,...

Only the begininng.


	40. Chapter XL

Important news to all:

I am going to merge Be True to Your Ed into this story, because upon further examination, I really felt like since Be True was just an expansion on this, might as well make it into this story.

Thanks for reading,  
Shackleford.

Chapter XL

It had been one day since the last. With the happiness everyone felt, well, cannot be expressed. Barbara Kanker was engaged to be re-married to Rod Van Wilmer. And they and the girls were moving to the cul-de-sac, the neighborhood of the three Kanker sister's new found boyfriends, the Eds. Over the last 3 weeks, each of them had found True love ways, and it was a magical time for them indeed. Double D's cousins, Carlo, Perci, Toni, and Lenny were also moving into the neighborhood.

Back at the Kanker Manor, aka the rundown trailer that Rod had threatened he was going to torch to the ground, the family was beginning to pack up all their items. Rod and Barbara were in the living room, packing up all their items. May and Marie were in the bedroom, packing up all their clothes, posters, et cetera. Lee had walked into the living room to help out with her parents.

"This all seems kinda weird, don't it?" Lee asked, picking up a cardboard box, ready to start piling in some knick-knacks.

"That it does Lee. That it does." Rod said. Instead of his typical night guard attire, he had on a green polo shirt with khaki pants. He was so happy for the family to finally be doing well, he couldn't stand it.

"Good ridance as far as I'm concerned." he said again, smiling.

Barbara Kanker, in her typical short sleeve button up blouse and blue jeans, was packing up some of her maritime knick-knacks, when she realized that she had ran out of tape. She stood back up straight and started back into the kitchen.

"Guys, I'm goin' into the kitchen for a minute. Call me if ya need me." she said, walking into the kitchen.

"Alright." Lee and Rod said in unison, as they were still busy packing up.

"Lee, answer me this..." Rod started, looking at the scuba helmet that was sitting on the television. He picked it up and moved it around in his hand a little at first, bizzarley intriged by it. "Why does your mom have all this ocean junk?" he asked her.

"Oh, the Long John Silver's downtown had a 'going out of business' sell when they got shut down. Mom went ova there and stocked up." Lee said, smiling at how tacky her mother was.

"I honestly don't doubt it..." Rod said, chuckling, as he put he scuba helmet in the box with the rest of it.

"I'm back..." Barbara said, coming back in with the tape. She knelt back down at the box and taped it down.

In the bedroom, May and Marie were down on their knees, getting all their junk out of the closet. A lot of it was just plain trash, but some of the items brought back some memories.

"Hey, look May!" Marie exclaimed as she pointed to the back corner of the closet. Stacked up, were the dusty pictures that the Kanker sisters had drawn of them and their respected Eds. May and Ed, Lee and Eddy, and of course, Edd and Marie. They had been folded many times over, and had started to dust and yellow. Even in their still tattered condition, May and Marie picked their pictures up and hugged them close to their hearts. Marie even felt a tear drip down from her cheek.

"Oh, I remember these!" May said, hugging the picture of her and Ed. "We drew these after we first saw them when we moved in, remember?" she asked Marie.

"Oh I remember perfect..." Marie said, still clutching the photo of her and Edd. She would have never thought that that very picture she scribbled up 2 years ago, would become a testament to reality, and not just fictional pondering. The love they have was actually true, and had been proven over. Even in between a rock and a hard place, love can still find a highway option.

After they had finished packing, the bedroom was bare. All that was left was the walls, carpet, and memories. But a new memory factory had been opened up before them, and this one was going to be high-production.

May and Marie brought their boxes out and sat them on the ground outside the door of the trailer. Rod had rented a small U-Haul and hooked it to the back of his car. He had already put all the heavy furniture, such as the bed frames, matresses, couch, TV's, etc in there. It was practically full with all that, and the boxes had to be carried in the car. But the only had the trunk space, so that is why they called in back-up before hand. Just as May and Marie were setting their boxes on the ground, in rode the always sagacious Father Franco Espicce, the gray haired priest that had done so much for the entire group of families. Marie and May smilied and waved at him as he drove his old Lincoln into the gravel drive way. Always with his signature smile, the wise priest waved back as he cut the engine off of the car, and engaged his parking brake. He hopped out and walked over to the girls, in his usual black clerical attire and Roman collar. The sunlight glimmered off of his round eye glasses.

"Hello girls!" Fr. Espicce exclaimed as he walked up to them and gave each of them a big hug. "How is everything today?" he asked them.

"Oh, we're doing just fine, Father." Marie replied, smiling, "we're just ready to get the heck outta here!" she said, chuckling. May and Fr. Espicce chuckled right back with her.

"I would imagine so, but remember Marie, where ever you go, make sure your love and happiness follow with it. And knowing you all, I would say that is a guarantee." he said, placing his hands on her shoulder and looking her in the eyes, smiling after he said his statement.

"Yes sir, Fr. Espicce." Marie said, in a quite sincere voice.

"Now," he said, standing back up straight again, "what boxes am I hauling in my car?" he asked.

"Oh, probably most of them. The U-Haul's packed with all our funiture and junk, and we can't fit but so much in the car trunk. I guess you'll be carrying most of the boxes." Marie responded.

"Well, I'll see what I can carry." he responded. At this time, Rod, Barbara, and Lee came out with their hands filled with boxes.

"That's the last of it." Rod said behind a stack of cardboard.

"Here, let me get that..." Fr. Espicce said, taking the boxes out of Barbara's hands. "Marie, honey, can you open my back door for me?" he asked Marie.

"Sure thing Father." Marie said, as she dashed to the car and propped the back door open.

"Thank you greatly..." Fr. Espicce said as he slip the stack of boxes into the rear floor board on the far end from him. Rod came up behind him and Fr. Espicce climbed out and slid his boxes across the back seat and up against the far door.

"Thanks so much for helpin' out Father." Rod said, placing his hand on Fr. Espicce's shoulder. "I honestly don't know what we'd do without ya." he said with a smile.

"It is my complete pleasure to help out in any way I can." Fr. Espicce replied back with a smile. Lee opened slid her boxes in, as Marie and May loaded the rest of their boxes in the space left, and put the last of them in Fr. Espicce's trunk.

"Thanks padre," Lee said, walking up to Fr. Espicce, "We owe ya one!" she said, smiling.

"Why thank you Lee,..." he said, giving her a hug, "but I enjoy helping others. It is my job."

"Thanks so much Father." Barbara said, as she came up and hugged Fr. Espicce, "You've really done more than you could ever even begin to realize."

"Well, I'm just glad everything ended up as happily as it did. God truely does bless those in His understanding." Fr. Espicce replied.

"Oh Father Espicce!" Everyone said playfully. He just stood there and smiled.

Rod, Barbara, Lee, Marie and May stood there infront of the trailer, now completely bare. They had no sorrow over leaving it. It was just a dumpster that they had no intentions of vacating anymore. They were finally esstatic over the very reality that they were moving on up in the world, and were finally going to be a family again. That made more sense to them than anything.

Each of them snorted back and made five seperate spits on the old oval-shaped trailer. Because that is exactly what they each thought of it. Something that had brought them nothing but misery over the last 3 years since they had moved down. It was nothing but trash to them now, for they were, again, a middle-class suburban family, that happiness and blessings had truley fallen on. After they finished their spitting, they stood there, holding each other's hands, smiling at the fact that they no longer had to call this hell hole a place of residence, and this horrible mode of living known as a way of life. That was all behind them. They had propelled out of their cavity of depression, and had risen to a height of happiness. Fr. Espicce stood behind them with his typical smile.

"Well, let's get outta here!" Rod exclaimed as the rest of them mummbled in agreement. They all got in the car and pulled off, with the U-Haul in back.

Just as Fr. Espicce was about to get in his car to follow them, he noticed a piece of whiteness out of the corner of his eye. It was sitting next to the stoop going up into the front door of the trailer. Upon further analysis, he discovered it to be a piece of paper with a drawing on it. Since his eyesight had worsened with age, he walked over to it and picked the paper up, dusting it off with the side of his hand.

He looked down at it and saw the picture that Marie had drawn of her and Edd, and the very one that had hung on the living room wall when they first meet.

"Aww, isn't this just precious..." he said as he held it in his hands and smiled down at it. He placed it to his side as he got into the driver side of the car and put the piece of paper in the passanger seat next to him, as he fastened his seat belt and started the engine. Engaging the transmision, he pulled off, glancing down at the drawing periodically.

He drove with a smile as he said, "A love shared is a love understood."

He drove off, and away from the past that would no longer act as the proverbial noose around the family known as Kanker.


	41. Chapter XLI

Chapter XLI

Back in the cul-de-sac, it was roughly one o'clock in the afternoon now. A car pulled up out side of the house next to Ed's. Behind the old Cadillac was a large moving truck with U-HAUL printed on the side of it.

Out of the Cadillac stepped Carlo and Perci Mastrangelo, Double D's first cousins through his mother's family. Carlo of course, was the leader of the Boys, the boys being himself, Perci, his younger brother by 10 months, his oldest cousin Lenny Morano, who was from Double D's father's family, who was one year older than the rest at 16, and his younger brother Toni, who was 15, like the rest of the kids. The Boys had questionable ties with Sicilian Mafia members of Double D's extended Italian family from New York City. Over all, all of them were good kids, and they were very nice to everybody they met.

Carlo, Perci, their father Vinny (Double D's mother's brother) and their mother, Julia, were moving into the vacant house next to Ed's house. Up the street, since Kevin had been sent to military school for the crimes he commited, his parents sold their house in the cul-de-sac and were moving to Florida. The people who bought it were Lenny and Toni's family. Double D's father, Col. Moore's brother and his wife, who oddly enough is Mrs. Moore's sister. They were moving in as well, and had their U-Haul truck pulled up to their house as well.

As Carlo and Perci piled out, so did Lenny, who was driving, and Toni. Vinny and Julia were in the U-Haul, and got out as well.

"Well boys, let's boogey over to Double D's house, see what he's been up to ova there." Carlo said, straightening out his sport jacket. The Boys always wore matching black suits, everyday. It was their thing.

"Fine by me." Perci said, as the four Boys strolled over across the cul-de-sac and up to Double D's house. They argued for about five minutes on who should knock on the door.

"Hey, hey!" Carlo said, holding his hands up in the air, "Hold now, hold it boys. I should do the honors, bein' as how I'm shocked that the three of ya actually know how to knock on a door. Now back off, I got this."

"Hey, you got it last time, it's my turn punk!" Perci said, trying to push Carlo out of the way.

"Back off now! I'm the oldest, so I should do it!" Lenny said. Lenny was about 350 pounds, so he could easily knock everyone out of the way and knock on the door, and did just that.

"Lenny, now look whatcha gone and done!" Carlo said, as he lied on the ground.

"What happened, did ya break a nail or somethin'?" Perci asked.

"Hey, shut up will ya, huh? I got my hair all messed up, now I gotta comb it again!" Carlo exclaimed, almost as if he held the belief that the world was going to come to an end that very minute.

"Oh, boo-frickedy-hoo! Now be quiet. You all are givin' me a headache!" Toni said, straightening his jacket out.

"Shut up Toni!" The other three responded in unison.

"Okay, okay, have an aneurism why don't ya…" Toni replied.

After about five minutes of waiting, Col. Moore, Double D's father, came to the door. He was in his US Air Force dress uniform, and had just gotten home from his shift at the base that was 20 miles from Peach Creek.

"Boys, you guys are here this early? Dang." he exclaimed, taking a quick glance at his watch.

"Yeah, our parents are out unpackin'. They wanna knw where you're at Uncle Edward. I guess they wantcha to help." Carlo said.

"Okay, I'll go see 'em right away. Double D's up in his room if you wanna go see him." Col. Moore responded.

"Sure, we can go for that." Carlo said, as he snapped his fingers. The four Boys went in the house, and up the stairs en route to Double D's room.

When they got up their, Double D had his door open. He was sitting at his desk, writing some type of hypothesis down when the Boys stepped in.

"Hey, how's our number one cousin doin' this fine afternoon, huh?" Carlo asked, squatting down next to him.

"Hello cousins, I am doing just fine today, thank you. Aren't you all moving in today?" Double D asked.

"Yeah, we are." Carlo responded, as Double D put his notebook away.

"How's about we hit the outdoors, huh? Such a nice day out and all, we need to get a little fresh air." Perci asked.

"He's right Double D. We all do need some fresh air. It's a little stuffy in here anyways." Carlo responded.

Double D looked up at the four of them, as they smiled. A smirk came across Double D's face as he got up and headed toward the door. He checked the mirror to make sure his hair was combed right, then he turned to the Boys.

"Well, I guess we can walk around to check up on things, I suppose." Double D said as he headed down the stairs. The Boys followed right behind him, as they went out the door. Right as they headed out, Ed and Eddy were walking up. Perci noticed that his girlfriend, Sarah, was out in Ed's yard, looking straight at him. Perci stared back her with a grin, as they both waved at each other. Carlo waved his hand in front of Perci's face a couple times to make sure he was alright.

"Uh, guys, I guess I outta-" Perci started as he raised his hand up.

"Go on, get outta here lover boy!" Carlo said with a smile, as Perci and Sarah met in the middle of the cul-de-sac in a giant embrace.

"Geez, get a room, huh…" Lenny said with a disgusted face.

"Oh, you're just jealous and you know it Lenny." Carlo said.

"How about you get jealous with my fist and your face, huh?" Lenny responded.

"Hey pretty boy," Eddy said, speaking to Double D, "looks like your family's just takin' over, huh? Man, it's gonna be nice to have some new faces around here. It's been getting dry around here lately if you know what I'm sayin'."

"Yes Eddy, it is quite enjoyable to have some more friends to the bunch I suppose. How do you feel Ed?" Double D asked him. Ed just stood there for a minute, than his dummy grin came over his face.

"I will be happy to see my pudding cup each and every moonset!" Ed exclaimed, as he hugged himself.

"He do this often?" Carlo asked, turning to Eddy.

"Don't get me started…" Eddy responded.

"Speaking of which, Ed is correct. I wonder where our girlfriends are right now. Marie and I spoke over the phone last night, and she told me that they would be moving in today as well." Double D said, looking up and down the street.

"Here they come now!" Eddy said, pointing up the street as he saw the Buick Park Avenue with U-Haul hitch coming down the cul-de-sac stretch. They were moving into the house in-between Rolf and Johnny's houses. It was arguably the best house on the street. At least Rod thought so. As they parked the car, it wasn't 30 seconds later that Fr. Espicce pulled up in his Lincoln and parked behind Rod's Buick.

"Well gentleman, it's been a pleasure, but we gotta go mingle with the family, if you know what I mean…" Carlo said as he, Lenny, and Toni left. They figured that the Ed's were going to get amorous with their girlfriends, and decided to split.

"See ya." the three Ed's said in unison, as everyone started piling out of the car up the street. As Lee, May, and Marie got out of the back seat, the Ed's waved to them, to draw attention. The girls noticed and waved back, as they ran up to their boyfriends.

As Edd and Marie embraced, Double D picked her up and spun her around in the air a couple of times. Marie laughed like a little girl on the swing set when he did, and she was just so happy to be back in his arms again. She had longed for it so much after they parted. But they had realized to foolishness of their rash actions, and were just as happy as could be. They kissed as they held each other. A kiss that was as much love as it was anything.

Ed and May just jumped up and down with each other, babbling some type of gibberish language the two of them had created. They grabbed each other's hands and ran back to Ed's basement.

Eddy and Lee just sorta pecked each other on the lips. Both were still "the tuff couple" and didn't see the need to be amorous in public. At least at this point. The two locked hands as they headed up the street together.

Double D and Marie continued to hold each other, afraid to let go. Eventually they let go for the most part, and took each other's hands. They stared into each other's eyes, and their expression could write a thousand words and paint a thousand pictures.

Fr. Espicce was unloading the last of the boxes into the house, fairly exhausted. As a 63 year old man, he felt more like 83. He took deep breaths in and out as he paced himself back to the car. He looked in the passenger seat, and noticed the picture that he had found dropped on the ground. He reached in and grabbed it, heading over to the lovely couple as they sill looked into each other's eyes. But they were doing more than just what you would think of. They weren't just looking at each other. They were looking into each other's souls, and looking into each other's love for one another.

Fr. Espicce walked up to them and chanted their names over and over again before their trance was broken up. They both blushed as they had been caught. Fr. Espicce thought it was rather cute.

"Sorry to bother you two," he said, handing the paper over to Marie, "But Marie, I found this paper lying on the ground back at the trailer. I figured it was of,…of some importance to you. Either way, it's known of my accord, but I just wanted to see it back into the right possession." he finished, smiling.

"Oh man, thanks Fr. Espicce!" Marie said, pushing the picture to her chest, "I don't know where we'd be without you!" she said, hugging him.

Well, I'm just doing my duty. But I know who you should be hugging." he said, motioning toward Double D with his eyes.

"Oh, right." she said, as she gave herself into Double D's arms. Fr. Espicce simply just smiled at them as he walked back to help with the unpacking.

After they had finished their embrace, Double D and Marie slowly went back into the trance they had been in before Fr. Espicce had come up. Then Double took notice of the paper Marie held onto in her hand.

"Might I inquire what the paper that you have is?" Double D asked, rather interested to see what it was.

"Well,…. I guess so." Marie said as she handed the picture to him.

The memory flashed back just like that to Double D. He remembered being in the Kanker trailer for the first time. The bathrobe, the powdered milk, and the "art work" up on the wall. This picture was of him and Marie, locking hands, and in the same trance they had come to be in many times since their relationship had started. Was it by chance that Fr. Espicce had brought this picture to them while they were in the exact position as the picture? Or was it something deeper than that. Of course, Fr. Espicce probably had his own theory all together.

After examining the drawing for a few more moments, Double D took and ran off for his house.

"Double D, where are you going? Double D, wait up! Double D?" Marie screamed as she ran after him in a chase. By the time she had caught up half way, he had gone in his house and rocketed up the stairs. She followed suit and into his room. He was bent over his work desk, working on something.

"Double D, what is it? Did I do something?" Marie asked, concerned that something was her fault.

"Nonsense Marie," Double D exclaimed as he turned back around. He had put the drawing of hers into a nice picture frame.

"Now you can be assured that damage will be minimal." Double D said.

"Oh Double D!" she said, embracing him once more. The two embraced all the way until they sat down on the edge of the bed. They then locked hands and started into each other again. Not at each other. But into each other.

Transparency is no problem when love is the filter.


	42. Chapter XLII

Songs used in this chapter:

watch?v=1fQT-GjKlLw

watch?v=xr5c-KvZAuw

Chapter XLII

Marie and Double D continued to sit there, gazing into each other. They never really examined it before, but they truly didn't understand how much they ment to each other until they broke up. They really didn't appreciate how precious their love was until now. Sure, they loved each other before, but they took it for granted. They didn't understand how much is broken when a heart is broken. But now that they were back together, they felt as if the spiritual and sensual bond between them couldn't have been stronger. They felt a more tender touch on their soul now. They knew that no matter what, they would have to remain strong to keep the true love ways.

No words were necesarry for this exchange of feelings. For feelings cannot be expressed with verbal communication. Only languageless thoughts, and emotions, could explain it.

"Dould D, I'm just so happy to be back in your arms. It feels so great." Marie said, grinning with her soft gentle face. Double D stared into her eyes, trying to capture her expression like the proverbial lighning in a bottle.

"Marie," he said, gripping her hands even tighter than he had before, "I am the one who missed you the most. Those hours, those dark, lonely hours, I spent doing an excess of crying. It was difficult for me to pinpoint, but eventually I came to the conclusion that the only way I would be able to win your love back, would be to reveal my true love. Only love can heal love, for love is the thing that heals all wounds." he said, grinning.

"Okay now," Marie said, giggling, "you're starting to sound like Father Espicce now."

"It's plausible that that is completely true. You see Marie, Fr. Espicce helped me to understand the true, deep meaning of the love we share. It is quite interesting, but an elderly man who has never felt love for another person knows more about love than anyone else." Double D said.

"That is pretty weird, huh. I wonder why he does know so much about it?" Marie asked.

"I assume that it's because he spent so much time studying it. I mean, he did go through all those years of seminary, and spent all that time searching for his true love of God and the Church. I guess when you spend all that amount of time reassesing your love for God, being able to figure out love between people isn't too hard to figure out. I guess love is the hardest thing to figure out, and he is essetially the code cracker when it comes to human feelings." Double D said.

"Wow, you sure have figured it out, huh?" Marie said, pretty impressed by Double D's analysis of Fr. Espicce's expertise on the subject of human emotions.

"Well, Fr. Espicce is like a grandfather to me. He looks after me. Before my parents decided to stay here yesterday, I didn't think I would ever see them much again. It is quite difficult to deal with the reality of having parents who are seldom at home. The fact of having no one to tell you good night. No one to tell you 'good job' if you do something decent. No one to console you if you have a difficult time. No one to be there. No one to care." he said, looking down at the ground, pausing for a reflection moment. After which, he brought his head back up, to continue.

"But Fr. Espicce was there. He would come by the house once or twice a week to make sure I was okay. He would bring me back the the parish all the time and show me the insides of the parish. The secret rooms, the hidden things, all of those. He would tell me all about his past, and how he did things as a child my age. He actually turned me on to older music. He was the one that got me interested in the music of the 1950s."

"So he got you listening to that doo-wop stuff?" Marie asked.

"That's correct. One day when we were riding in his car, he always has the oldies station afixed on the dial. Regardless, he told me that this was the music that was popular when he was a teenager. He told me all about his record collection, and how he had a whole room full of hundreds of 45 singles and albums. When I turned 12, he brought me back to his apartment that is down the road from the parish. He took me into the spare room, and Marie, he had hundreds of records all over the wall. He had original posters from a bunch of concerts and shows. It was simply stunning. He took me in and told me 'Edd, listen, I have no use for these records anymore. I am running out of space. I want you to have all these wonderful pieces of music. I have been looking to give them to somebody, and I know that you'll take good care of them.' He gave me a big cardboard box and I collected all the records and brought them home. I still listen to them over and over again. On those specific days when I don't feel exactly on my best abilities, I will come in here, in my room, and just put on my records. It really moves inside my brain and speaks to me. Nothing else can do quite those things to me. Except for you. Regardless, here in my room, I feel that it is the only place that I can go and not feel abandoned by the rest of the world. I use to go outside, and people like that unadulterated Kevin would insult me and harass me. All my life I have felt disconnected by society, and this room was my oasis from it all. It was the only place where I could be myself and noone would care."

Double D truly felt that, before he had someone like Marie to share himself with, that his room had been the only source of mediation for him. A place truly his own.

_There's a world where _

_I can go and_

_tell my secrets to._

_In my room _

_In my room. _

_(In my room) _

_In this world, _

_I lock out all my_

_worries and my fears. _

_In my room. _

_In my room._

_(In my room) _

_Do my dreaming_

_And my scheming_

_Lie awake and pray_

_Do my crying, _

_and my sighing. _

_Laugh at yesterday,_

_Now it's dark and_

_I'm alone and _

_I won't be afraid, _

_in my room, _

_in my room..._

Double D had truly built this shell around him, and believed that he could feel certain ways in his room that he could not feel anywhere else.

He reached from under his matress and pulled out a composition notebook, that was about 3 years old. He handled it in his hands. Marie looked at it with intent, interested to see what it contained.

"Marie, I have always had strong feelings for you. But I always felt that my friends, Ed and Eddy, would abandon me if I came out with them. And I was always too scared to tell you how I really felt. So after everytime we met, everytime you ganged up on us Ed's, everytime I was able to visualize you face again, I came in here, put on a nice record, and wrote about you in my journal." he said, handing the notebook to her. She opened it up to the first page. It was a poem written in beautiful cursive. It said.

_Today I have found a girl, _

_A girl I've been waiting to see_

_Today I have found that girl._

_And her name's Marie. _

_Oh how I love her so _

_More than she'll ever know _

_More than air, more than the sea_

_Oh how I love Marie. _

Marie felt a tear run down her cheek as she finished up reading the poem.

"Oh Double D, that is just absoluetly beautiful." Marie said, wiping her eye with her hand.

"I wrote that the first day we met. You remember, the day you found us in the mud puddle, and fed us."

"Oh, how could I forget..." she said in a dreamy voice.

"Go on, there's more." Double D said.

Marie turned the page. This poem was titled "Marie, My Love."

_An angel fell from up above_

_and down fell my own love_

_she is like a perfect dove_

_she is Marie, my love. _

_Oh how my love is real_

_But how can I tell her how I feel_

_Because her heart I want to steal. _

_She is my sole angel from above. _

_She is Marie, my love. _

Marie felt it was official now, she felt multiple tears fall down her face. She had no idea that back then, Double D secretly had an undying love for her. A love he was so ready to admit, yet to shy to do so.

She flipped through a bunch more pages until she came across one that was titled "Marie, my future wife."

_Today I went out. _

_Not looking for a strife _

_But a girl, who I know much about_

_Has swept my life._

_She is Marie, my future wife. _

_We pretended to marry_

_And her ring I carry _

_though it is just fun and games_

_I still think it's a future fame _

_to have this girl share my life_

_She is Marie, my future wife. _

Double D glanced over her shoulder and read along with her.

"I wrote that the day that you all pretended to marry us in that old house." Double D said, a tear reflecting in his eys as he smilied at her.

She went and read the last one that she could emotionally carry in her mind. It was titled "Marie I love you."

_Today I was with my friends. _

_Wondering what to do. _

_But in a trailer, past the bends_

_Burns a passion that never ends. _

_She is the girl that all my love I send. _

_I was still wondering what to do. _

_Marie, I love you. _

_Marie, you are the morning star_

_When I close my eyes, there you are. _

_Though everyone thinks you're a pest._

_I still think you're the best. _

_Though my friends are still few,_

_Marie, I love you._

Marie closed the journal, completely filled with amorous feelings that couldn't be with held anymore. She grabbed him in a tight embrace.

"Oh Double D, I love you so much. If only I had known that you were so passionate for me back then as well." she said.

He then took her hands into his and stared into her eyes.

"Marie, you still shine bright,

And even though we had a blight

I still thougt of you every night.

Many a tear I shed

As I lyed awake in my bed.

But now that your in my arms tight

I can see your love's shining light.

What am I to do

Marie, I love you too."

Double D said in a poetic voice. The poem was his first choice. They stared into each other's eyes. Both were filled with romantic sighs. They felt the love as they embraced. Marie was taken by his vocal grace. As they touched, they could feel the love. Was it a blessing from above? Their love was taken aglow. More than they'll ever know.

Marie and Double D grabbed each other in a tight embrase, and their lips locked. They were sharing their lovely connection in a very intimate fashion. They had never felt so much love in one of their kisses before.

Double D took the journal and slid it back under the matress. He turned to Marie.

"Marie, do you remember the night we were coming back here, the night Kevin did his demoralizing acts?" he asked her.

"Yeah, why?" she asked.

"Well, I was planning on playing you a record that night, and of course I couldn't. I had went out and bought it that day because I was thinking of you. Would you like to hear it?" he asked her.

"Double D, I would love nothing more." she said, smiling at him.

"Delightful." he said, as he got up and went over to his turntable. He cut it on and placed the needle down, and hurried back over to Marie. The grasped each other's hands and stared into each other's eyes. For they both could now realize. They both felt a certain way. They could both feel the love today.

_Just to be with you,..._

_Just to be with you,..._

_There is nothing I wouldn't do _

_Just to be with you. _

_I'd climb a mountain, _

_or sail the sea. _

_I'd crawl a thousand miles,_

_upon my knees. _

_I'd find a rainbow,_

_and take it from the sky._

_I'll be a slave till the day I die. _

_Just to be with you,..._

_Just to be with you,..._

_There is nothing I wouldn't do_

_Just to be with you._

_I'd build a castle,_

_Like those of old._

_And I would fill it,_

_With wealth untold._

_I'd find writings of how it's s'ppsed to be_

_I'd count the stars in the galax._

_Just to be with you,..._

_Just to be with you,..._

_There is nothing I wouldn't do_

_Just to be with you._


	43. Chapter XLIII

Chapter XLIII

As Double D an Marie continued to share their passionate, they began to go on to something more physical. Double D began to awkwardly unhook Marie's bra from underneath her shirt. She took and slipped his shirt off, which made him feel a little uncomfortable at first. They both blushed and giggled awkwardly as they continued to get more physical. Marie crawled on top of Double D and was prepared to take her black top off.

Carlo was coming up the stairs and down the hall, humming _I'll Be Seeing You_ by Frank Sinatra. When he got to Double D's door, he heard some groaning sounds.

"What the heck,…" he whispered to himself as he twisted the knob and quickly flashed open the door.

"Hey, Double D, they- WHOA! What the heck, oh man, ohh,…!" Carlo shouted as he slipped and fell back on the floor. On the bed were Double D and Marie, with Marie having just taken her top off on top of Double D. Double D cried out in shock as the door opened. Marie quickly grabbed her shirt and held it in front of her chest and Double D scrambled to cover himself.

Carlo got back up and made the Sign of the Cross, his eyes wide and shocked. Double D and Marie were blushed heavily, and just sat there.

"What in the name of Frank, Dean, and Sammy is goin' on here, guys? This house went from PG-13 to R rated in a matter of what, the time it took me to get up here!" he demanded.

"Oh, uh, Carlo,….uh, well,…we uh,…" Marie started to try to explain what the situation was.

"Don't hurt yourself, huh. I know what the deal is. And Double D, I'll have a trophy waitin' for ya downstairs. But anyway, Double D, Marie, we need you's guys to help us out,…whenever you're ready." Carlo said.

"Yeah, okay." Marie said, blushing heavily.

"Alright, I'm outta here…" Carlo said as he closed the door back and flew down the stairs.

"A simple knock is out of the question, I suppose." Double D said.

"Now, where were we?" Marie asked as she tossed her shirt off the side of the room and got back on top of Double D. Double D was still scared of this situation, but felt reassured that Marie was with him.

After they were "finished" Double D and Marie just lied on the bed, quite satisfied with themselves

"I guess we oughtta head back down to the cul-de-sac, huh?" Marie asked, turning her head to Double D.

Double just lied there as well, with a smile so permanent that it could have been painted on.

"I guess we should, they most likely need our help." Double D said as he got up. He and Marie slid their clothes back on and went down the stairs, and out the door.

At Marie's new house, The U-Haul was now empty, and Fr. Espicce had left. Double D and Marie went over to her house and walked in the door. They were amazed at how everything was already unpacked.

Immediately as they walked in the house, they entered a hall-like area, a lobby, if you will. Off to the right was the living room. Marie and Double D held hands as they walked into the living room. It was a nice open room, and had cream-colored carpet. Of course the old furniture now filled it. The old sofa, TV, chairs, et cetera. There was a big brick fireplace in the middle of the back wall, and gave the house an excellent older look, like that of an actual house. The room made Marie very happy that she finally had a house of her own, and not some crummy trailer. Not some garbage filled piece of junk. But an actual house.

"It's beautiful, isn't it Double D?" Marie asked him.

"It is very nice Marie. I'm very happy for you and your family." Double D replied.

Just as they were standing there, conversing over the room, Rod walked in. He was exhausted to say the least. Sweat was rolling off of his forehead, and his hair was partially messed up.

"Hey guys." He said, walking up to them. "I just got finished setting up the rooms."

"Didn't take you very long." Marie said, stunned that he had finished so early.

"Well, when I get my mind set on something, I just roll with it. Especially something like this. And Fr. Espicce really helped a lot too. He put all the bed frames together while I unpacked the boxes. That man is a master at puttin' stuff together. I'm gonna stand here and tell you, he put our queen sized mattress back together in 5 minutes flat. It was amazing to watch him do it. He works so fast, you wouldn't believe. He may be 63 years old, but he is one tuff old bird, I'll give 'im that. He says that he knows everything about wood and stuff like that. Says he's been following a carpenter for years." Rod said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Mr. Van Wilmer, he means that in a metaphorical sense." Double D pointed out, smiling.

"What do ya mean?" Rod asked, again still wiping off his excess sweat.

"He means that he follows a 'carpenter', and he is refering to Jesus, who worked as a carpenter when He was on Earth." Double D said.

"Wow Double D, nothin' gets by you, huh?" Rod said, pretty impressed that Double D had pointed it out and caught the reference.

"Well, having to known Fr. Espicce for as long as I have, his,…shall I say,…strange, sense of humor tends to grow on a person. Believe me, he constantly finds himself funny, even when he says something that is not humorous in any way."

"Yes, well, so you've known him for a while I suppose." Rod said as he went and sat down in his 'Archie Bunker' chair that sat next to the sofa. "Come on guys, come sit down for a minute, I need to rest before I do anything else."

Marie and Double D went and sat on the sofa and faced toward him.

"Oh come on dad, you can't be that tired out, can you?" Marie asked.

"Believe me Marie, when you get my age, the slightest things tire you out. Enjoy bein' young while you can. Cause you can do anything you want to right now. You're in the prime of your life. When you get my age, you're gonna miss it greatly." he said, taking a cigarette out of his front pocket and placing it in his mouth. He held it there for a moment before he lit it up with his Zippo lighter.

"Well, to answer you question Mr. Van Wilmer, yes, I have indeed known Fr. Espicce for quite some time. As long as I've been here, anyway." Double D said.

"So, you weren't born here?" Rod asked, taking a puff from his cigarette and placing it in the ashtray on the end-table inbetween the chair and sofa.

"Oh, no, I was born in Colorado. My father was stationed here when I was two." Double D said.

"Oh, so Fr. Espicce was here when you arrived?" Rod asked.

"Correct." Double D said.

"Well," Rod said, putting his cigarette out in the ash tray and getting up out of his seat. "I want you two to come with me. I've got something to show ya." Rod said as he headed up the stairs. Marie and Double D shrugged at each other. They then got up and followed him up the stairs.

When they got to the top, they saw Rod go down the hall and into a doorway. They followed him into the room. As Marie walked in, she noticed her bed and chest-of-drawers were in it. Her jaw dropped as she walked in and sat down on the bed. Double D sat down beside her.

"You mean, I,-I,…I get,…" Marie started, looking around.

"That's right." Rod responded as he leaned against the door. "You've got your own rooms now. I figured you need the privacy now, if you know what I mean." he said, winking at her.

Marie and Double D just smiled awkwardly at each other.

"Don't worry, I know what happened at Double D's house about 15 minutes ago. It's not some secret, ya know." he said, smirking.

"How'd you find out?" Marie asked, quite embarrassed.

"You kiddin'? Everybody in the neighborhood know. That damn Carlo came running, and I mean just sprinting down the street screaming 'I saw pornography! I saw pornography!' He sounded like some 11 year old kid that saw his teenage neighbor topless. He was wailin' his arms around, and nearly tripped on the sidewalk." Rod said, chuckling.

Marie and Double D just blushed some more.

"Don't worry guys, come on! You're like two squares or somethin'. I mean, I did worse than that when I was your age. It's no problem. But make sure it's always for the right reasons. And knowin' you two, that's probably the truth." Rod said as he smiled and walked out the door. "Aw man they should have seen that kid, 'I saw Marie's boobs, I saw Marie's boobs!'" Rod said, imitating Carlo again, "Man if I'd had a camera on me!" he said as he walked off chuckling.

Double D looked around the fairly bare looking. He wanted to make it look nice.

"Wait here Marie, I will be back in a jiffy." Double D said, as he got up and hurried out.

"'In a Jiffy'?" Marie asked herself, realizing how silly that phrase was. She sat on the bed, thinking of him the entire time he was gone.

When he got back, he had the picture in the frame he had put it in, and a sticky holder to hold the picture up. He put the holder on the wall above her bed and hung the picture up.

"There!" Double D said once he was finished, "Now it looks better in here."

"It always looks better when you're here." Marie said as she pulled his head in. The two stood in the new room and kissed, and kissed, and kissed.

Now Double D was just 2 minutes away from heaven. It is right there at his door.

Stick around for chapter V, and you can read more!


	44. Chapter XLIV

Song at the end of the chapter:

watch?v=p8671MG6y9M

Chapter XLIV

It had been exactly one month since the events of the Kankers moving into the cul-de-sac. It was a quiet, modest Thursday night in late August. The wedding of Rod and Barbara was scheduled for Saturday, and was only two days away. In the cool, collective dinning room of the Kanker home, soon to be the Van Wilmer home, sat Rod and Barbara in the kitchen, with their favorite person, Father Espicce. He of course, was the priest that was going to marry them. They all sat at the kitchen table, getting ready to go over the wedding, piece by piece, one last time before the actual thing took place. It was a the first Catholic wedding for both of them, for their first wedding was just a 5 minute one at the county clerks office

"Alright," Barbara said, taking in one big, deep breath as pulled out her 2 page long list of people, "What are we goin' over first?"

"Well, who is going to be the ring bearer?" Fr. Espicce asked.

"Oh, that's easy, it's gonna be Rod's nephew Chris. We already have that settled." Barbara said.

"Okay, what about ushers?" Fr. Espicce asked.

"Let's see,…" Barbara said, consulting her long list, "we've got Colonel Moore, Tom McGee, Edwin Laughorne, and Vincent Moore slated for that."

"Good, now what about flower girl?" Fr. Espicce continued.

"Sarah already asked for it." Rod said.

"Oh, little Sarah, she will be lovely. She is a real darling, you know." Fr. Espicce commented.

"My brother Tim is gonna be my best man, and his wife is gonna be the maiden of honor." Rod said.

"Great." Fr. Espicce said. "Now, do you have everything set up as far as clothes as things?"

"Yes," Barbara said, "we've got matching tuxedos for the boys, and matching ivory dresses for the girls. They're all gonna look so cute!"

"Do you have a reception planned afterwards?" Fr. Espicce asked.

"Oh yes, we're gonna have that out in the backyard. Carlo and the boys are gonna deejay it. They're so good at it, you say 'em at that thing that happened last month." Rod said.

"Yeah, they are pretty good, aren't they." Fr. Espicce responded.

"Oh Father, this is so exciting. I can't believe we're actually getting married again. And this is our first actual 'wedding'. I just want everything to be perfect, ya know. I mean, everything's gone so great for us in the last month and a half, I want it to be the best wedding ever. Eveyone's so excited about it. Especially the kids. They can't wait till Saturday either." Barbara said.

"Have they showed a large interest it it?" Fr. Espicce asked.

"Well, yeah. That's all the've been talkin' about. Heck, they've even started planning their own weddings with the Eds now. They want the perfect wedding too. Oh, this is so nice." Barbara replied.

"Well, they take after their mother on that one, huh?" Rod said, as the three of them chuckled at his statement.

"Alright Father, we know all the stuff on our end, now you need to fill us in on the actual wedding process." Rod said as he leaned forward.

"Okay, well. Since Barbara is not technically Catholic yet, you'll have to do the wedding with out the Mass." Fr. Espicce said.

"That means there's not gonna be Communion, right Father?" Rod asked.

"That's right Rod. Now, we come in with the processional. I come first with the altar servents, then Barbara and her father come with the playing of the bride song."

"You mean the Wedding March?" Barbara said.

"Oh yes, that. Then I say the opening prayer, then we have the liturgy of the word." Fr. Espicce said.

"What's that?" Barbara asked.

"Well, it's when we have readings from the Scripture that pertain to love and marriage. We have an Old Testament Reading, a responal Psalm, and a New Testament. Then we proceed with the Alleulia, then I read a Gospel reading, and give my homily. Believe me when I tell you, my wedding homilies are always gushy and mushy. It's guaranteed to be a sappy one, especially in this case. Anyway, after the homily, we begin the Rite of Marriage. But we've already been over all of that, so it should go pretty smoothly I think." Fr. Espicce finished.

"So, it's very complicated, but it's wonderful, right?" Barbara asked.

"Oh yes Barbara, Catholic weddings are truly the most beautiful things that can take place. The sequence, the festival feeling of it. It's more than just a legal agreement. It is a bond of love between two people. Marriage in the Catholic Church symbolizes the Marriage of Christ to the Church when he was crucifed. It takes on a much deeper meaning than just two people living together for the rest of their lives, it is a spiritual contract between you and God, that says no matter what, love will always be the most important thing to you."

"So I take it that you've done a lot of weddings before, Father." Rod said.

"Oh yes, quite a lot. I would probably say around, eh,...200 or so, in my entire career. About three or four a year, on average." he replied.

"Huh, so you are really a priest that gets around." Rod replied, shocked that the number was that high.

"Well, I've done it all. Weddings, funerals. The works. When you're a priest, you have to be there for the good and the bad. You have to be the messenger and the comforter. I have to do it all. But I enjoy every minute of it. And I have a feeling that this wedding is going to be the most magical one I have ever done. There is a a great deal of love in this family. Love is the Eternal Bonder, working in forces and ways we couldn't even begin to think about." Fr. Espicce said.

"Well Father, we are real happy to be having it too. We never had a real wedding, and this will be our chance to start over again. Make anew. Everyone needs second chances." Barbara said.

"Very true Barbara, and sometimes second decisions can be much better than the first." Fr. Espicce replied.

"Why would you say that Father?" Rod asked him, interested to see his conclusion.

"Well Rod, as a priest, I also act as a social observer. I notice things that no one else does. Because I am on the outside looking in, I take in the whole picture. I'm not confined to one piece, so I can move around the entire puzzle. And I have noticed something very interesting over the years. When couples break up, especially the younger ones, they feel they have lost the love. They feel that there is no love left. But they are wrong. Because their relationship just needed a test. If someone breaks up with their loved one, and sees no reason to get back together, that shows that the relationship had no structure to begin with. There was no real love in that. But if the couple is miserable, inconsolable, that shows that their love was real, and the fact that since they have become one, they cannot be broken. I don't see couples that don't love each other as breaking up. I see them as just going seperate ways. However, when a couple does have real love, and they come together, they are no longer two different people. They become one with the eternal bond of love. And when you break apart something that is one piece, it is a lot harder to deal with, and the two halfs can never make a complete whole again without coming back together. That is why Double D and Marie got back together so quickly. Once they realized that they would never be whole with out each other, they came back together to make that whole. Now they are one, and their relationship has never been better. They have passed the test. Their love conquered over their emotions." Fr. Espicce said, smiling.

"Wow Father, you just run automatically with this stuff, don't you?" Rod asked, once again swept away by Father Espicce's amazing voice of reason.

"Glad I could help Ron. Now, here are the pamplets that give all the information about the rights, what I say, how you respond, all that. It's all there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get going now. Lot of stuff to do." Father Espicce said, as he handed them two booklets, and got up out of his chair.

"Thanks Father, you have really done too much. I am completely serious when I say that you have helped up more than anybody ever has before. You are truly one of the best men I have ever met. The words you speak, just simply beautiful." Rod said, as he walked up and gave Fr. Espicce a literal pat on the back.

"Yeah Father, you are a truly great man. We are happy to call you our priest." Barbara said, as she hugged him.

"Well, I have greatly enjoyed working with this family. You guys are certainly different, but are very special to each other. I just pray that the happiness that this family has will never go away. You have God's blessing. And that will never go away." Fr. Espicce said as he walked toward the door.

"Father Espicce, wait up!" Rod said as he darted for the old man before he could get out.

"What is it Rod?" Fr. Espicce asked, concerned because Rod had just shocked him out of nowhere.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were coming to the bachelorre party tomorrow night? Everyone's coming." Rod asked him, almost begging him.

"Is it going to be,...clean?" Fr. Espicce asked him, a little repulsed at the idea of a bachelorre party, at least in the sense that he imagined it.

"Oh yes, it'll be fine. No funny business. Just a bunch of guys hangin' out. The kids will be there too. It'll fun. You should come."

"Well, I have nothing else better to do, I suppose I can come and celebrate with you all. It's not like my schedule is backed up." Fr. Espicce responded, with a smile.

"Great, wonderful, see ya tomorrow." Rod said, holding the door open for him as he walked out.

"Bye now." Fr. Espicce said as he walked into the dark street and headed for his car. He noticed Double D and Marie walking up the sidewalk, holding hands in the moonlight.

"Hello kids." he called out as he waved at them. Double D and Marie easily noticed his display and walked toward him to talk before he left.

"Hello Father." they said in unison.

"Hey, you guys look lovely tonight." he said.

"Why thank you Father." Marie said.

"You ready for Saturday?" he asked them.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I suppose. I've never been to a wedding before." Double D said.

"Oh, they are beautiful Edd. There is nothing more precious on Earth than a couple granting their love and life to each other. It is impossible to describe, it is simply that beautiful. So, how do you feel Marie?" he asked.

"Oh, I can't wait! There's gonna be cake, and music, and I'll get to be with Double D. Did I mention Double D?" she said with her captifying grin and amorous eyes.

"Hehe, I believe you did. And who knows, you guys are one step closer to the aisle." Fr. Espicce said as he opened his car door and got inside. "Bye now, I'll see you tomorrow." he said as he waved and drove off.

Marie and Double D looked at each other, the same glowing way they had for the last two months. Two months? Had they really been together that long. But they felt such a strong connection, they felt like they had been in love since day one.

"Do you think what he said is true, Double D?" Marie asked him, looking through his eyes and beyond his mind, and into his soul.

"I'd bet the farm on it!" Double D replied as the grabbed Marie in for a good night kiss. The embrace the two shared had to be the most wonderful sight ever.

"Good night Double D. I love you." Marie said as she gazed into him, with her ever constant eyes.

"Good night Marie, I love you also." Double D said as he pulled her in close one more time. After their embrace, Double D started back to his house and saw Lee and Eddy and May and Ed walking up the road together. Marie simply looked on dreamily as Double D walked down the street, and turned around and went back in the house. Soon afterwards, Lee and May also came back in and shut the door behind them.

"Man, Eddy is one dream catcher!" Lee said dreamily as she held her hand to heart.

"Not as much as Ed!" May responded.

"No one has anything on my Oven Mitt." Marie said as her eyes light up and her heart went into a flutter.

"You're probably right, Marie." Lee said, shocked that she actually contested to that previously stated fact.

As the girls talked about their glorious nights, Rod and Barbara came into the living room and sat down with them.

"So, you girls ready for Saturday?" Barbara asked them.

"Oh mom, it's gonna be great. The most wonderful day of our lives. I can't wait." Marie said.

"Oh, you don't know the half of it. The waiting is twice as worse for us." Barbara chimed in as she smirked at Ron, who returned her a grin of his own. "But you will soon enough I guess."

With that statement, Marie's head spun with Fr. Espicce's comment about being one step closer to the aisle. Was she really that close to being with Double D forever. She knew she was, and relished in that as they continued talking.

"Well we all better be getting to bed, big weekend in a couple days. Lots to do." Rod said.

"Yeah, come on girls, let's hit the hay." Lee called out as the three sisters gave their good nights to their parents and went up the stairs to their rooms.

Rod and Barbara went down the hall and into their bedroom.

Everybody ready for the big day.

_[bells chime] _

_Church bells may ring!_

_Church bells may ring,_

_Church bells may ring!_

_Church bells may ring. _

_[bells chime]_

_Church bells may ring, _

_And surely darling, _

_the angels will sing! _

_I'll tell ya darling, _

_you're the queen of my throne, _

_you should have known_

_sweetheart. _

_Church bells may ring, _

_And surely darling, _

_the angels will sing. _

_I'll tell ya darling, _

_you're the queen of my throne, _

_you should have known_

_sweetheart. _

_Ling, ring, a-ling-ding-dong_

_I love you darling, _

_and I want you for my own_

_I'll give you any, any thing that I own_

_you should have known, _

_sweetheart. _

_Hello, hello again, _

_(It's good to hope that we will meet again) _

_Ring-a-ling-a-ling, ring-a-ling-a-ling! _

_Ling, ring, a-ling-ding-dong_

_I love you darling, _

_and I want you for my own_

_I'll give you any, any thing that I own_

_you should have known, _

_Church bells may ring, _

_Church bells may ring, _

_Church bells may ring, _

_Church bells may ring, _

_Church bells may ring, _

_Church bells may ring. _

_[bells chime] _


	45. Chapter XLV

Just as a note, today marks the 1 month anniversary since I published "Come and Go With Ed". Happy anniversary I suppose. *wooo*

Song at the end of the chapter:

watch?v=cMfrLFirGWc

Chapter XLV

The next day, the guys were at the house, getting ready for the bachelorre party. Rod was given the house for his party, while Barbara was going over to Double D's house for the bridal shower. In all, a good compromise was settled.

As far as the preperation was cocerned, everyone was assigned a role. Rod of course was in charge. He made all the final decisions. His brother Tim was the guy that was second in command. And the MC. Double D was in charge of food and cleaning. Carlo and the boys were entertainment, and Ed and Eddy were in charge of everything else.

It was 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and the party was set to begin at 8. Rod had just pulled up to the house with a bunch of stuff. He and his brother had made a beer run at the ABC store, and were fully stocked. They had a whole trunk full of the stuff. Rod's brother stepped out of the passanger seat and stretched his arms a little. He was a tall man also, about 6'2". He was clean shaven and had thick brown hair. He and Rod looked a lot alike, and could have passed as Rod's twin.

"Now, where's the help at?" Tim asked as he walked over and opened the trunk up.

"Ed, Eddy, Carlo, whoever, get out here!" Rod yelled. About 2 minutes later Eddy, Ed, Carlo, and the Boys waltzed out of the door and over to the car.

"Gentlemen, this is my younger brother Tim."

"How do ya do?" they all said in unison.

"And Tim, this is Eddy, Ed, Carlo, Perci, Lenny, and Toni. The first two are the other boyfriends, and the other four are Double D's cousins.

"They look like fine boys, all of them. I bet you're pretty proud, huh?" Tim asked Rod. "Well boys, nice to meet ya. It'll be a pleasure to get to know you." Time said as he turned to the six of them. "Now Rod, where's Marie's great boyfriend Double D at?"

"Oh, he's in the house settin' everything up. Come on, we'll go see 'im. Boys, there's a bunch of stuff in the trunk. Go ahead and bring it all in the kitchen, if you would." Rod asked them.

Carlo turned to the other five boys and snapped his finger.

"Alright boys, let's get a move on!" he said as he started lifting up a couple packs.

"Man, this stinks. I just wanna party!" Eddy said, making Ed carry his share of the load.

"This is like when Captain Brainpan carried the spaceships over the metal mountains, ha." Ed said in his goofy voice.

"Shut up Ed." Eddy said. The two of them followed the boys into the house, setting all the things in the floor of the kitchen. Ed and Eddy got busy loading up 4 coolers with ice and putting the soda pop and beer into them. Carlo and the boys were just standing around, goofing off. And of course Double D was in the living room, setting up all the stuff. He was in the middle of setting up the large serving table when Rod and Tim came in.

"Tim, this is here is one of my favorite people, Double D." Rod said, pointing him out.

"So this is Marie's guy, huh?" Tim asked.

"Sure is, and let me tell you, he is the largest gentleman this world has ever seen. He treats Marie like she is the most blessed thing on Earth. If those two aren't soul mates, I don't know who is." Rod said. "Hey Double D, take five and come on over here and meet Tim."

Double D perked up his head, as he was deep into what he was doing. He strolled across the room and looked up and the man who was Rod's brother Tim.

"Hello there, I'm Double D, Marie's boyfriend." Double D said nervously as he shook his hand up and down.

"Nice to meet you Double D. You seem like a good kid. I'm glad that you're dating my good niece." Tim said as he returned the shake.

"Great, now let's get ready for this part-ee!" Eddy said as he slid through the door and finger-gun pointed at the three of the guys standing in the living room.

Over in Double D's house, Barbara, Mary (Double D's mom), Lee, Marie, and May, Ed's mom, and Eddy's mom, were all gathered in the living room. Bridal showers, being more modest, didn't involve partying and shouting. They typically involved an estrogen tidal wave of Lifetime channel movies, crying, and idle gossip. Like any other gathering of two or more females.

"You know mom, this is gonna be so fun! I can't wait for it to start." Marie said.

"What are we doin' mom? What's so fun about it?" Lee asked, obviously not as enthused as the other girls about the night.

"Well Lee," Barbara started, "the thing about it is not what we do, but the fact that we are all together and have a good time. The night is just a big girls' night."

Lee just groaned, obviously not too enthused about being around a bunch of sappy middle-aged women who have to keep pumping their head with images of "dream lives" and things like it. Lee just wanted to be around Eddy. That is all she wanted.

In her own unique way, Lee was just as girly as any other girl. But she didn't feel like anyone appreciated her girly side. She had no need to show it before. No one cared about it before. But all that changed when Eddy came into the picture. She finally had found someone that made her feel emotionally complete. She could finally expose that side of her that was screaming to get out. She felt like an actual happy girl around Eddy. Even though they were together, they still felt pretty awkward around each other. Having had such a turbulent past, they still were trying to get over that hump. Marie and Double D had done it pretty nicely. And it was practically non-existent for Ed and May. Hopefully her and Eddy would too be able to just all out show each other their emotions.

It was now 8 o'clock, and the part-ee was just getting started. Fr. Espicce had just pulled up and walked in. He was the last guy to arrive. It was a fairly small party, Ed, Edd, n Eddy, their dads, Tim, Carlo and the boys, and Fr. Espicce. The beer was plenty and so was the fun.

Fr. Espicce got out and went into the house. Everyone was crowded into the living room. The kids were all crowded around Carlo, as he was telling one of his jokes again.

"...and then I said 'take out the garbage!'" Carlo finished as the other Boys and the Ed's busted out laughing. He was re-telling his story of what they did to Kevin.

"Aw man, I can hear that story a million times and it never gets old!" Eddy claimed as he had to hold on to his ribs he as laughing so hard. Fr. Espicce walked up to him.

"What story would that be, Eddy?" he asked.

"Oh, Father E, how's it goin'?" Eddy said, as he chuckled nervously. "We're just tellin' a few jokes here, that's all." Eddy was nervous that Fr. Espicce was going to drag him into a public confession.

"Don't worry, Eddy. This night is for fun. Don't worry so much. Have fun. Live a little!" Fr. Espicce said. The boys were very shocked to hear those words coming from Fr. Espicce, one of the biggest squares around. "When I was a teenybopper like you guys, we went to these thing called 'hops.'"

"What's a hop?" Eddy asked.

"A hop is a party we went to where you would have a deejay that would play the hit dance records at the time, and you dance around and have fun. That is where we learned how to dance." Fr. Espicce replied.

"Sounds boring." Eddy said, yawning. "Hey guys, how about we head outside, it's gettin' a little boring in here." Eddy said, motioning to the door with his hand.

"Yeah, let's roll." Carlo said as he snapped his finger. The herd of teenage boys headed out the door.

"Man, would I kill to be that young again." Fr. Espicce said as he walked over to the group of adults.

"Father, Father, come join us!" Col. Moore said as he motioned with his hand.

"Father, this is my brother Tim from Detroit. Tim, this is Father Espicce, our priest." Rod said, introducing the two.

"Well, you're a little older than Father Don, but you're pretty good." Tim said, shaking the priest's hand.

"Thanks, it's a real pleasure to meet you." Fr. Espicce replied with a nice big smile.

"I've heard you're a real psycharitrist. I've heard you helped everybody in this family out. Good on ya." Tim said, putting his hand on the Father's shoulder.

"Hey Father, you wanna beer?" Mr. McGee asked him as he moved toward the cooler.

"Sure, what do you have?" Fr. Espicce asked.

Mr. McGee opened up the big cooler and sorted through the ice.

"Uh, in this one we have Bud Lite and Coors Light, and...in this one,...we got Miller Lite and Pabst Blue Ribbon." he said, looking back up at Father Espicce.

"I'll take one Blue Ribbon for now." Fr. Espicce said.

"Alright, that's my guy right there!" Mr. McGee said as he flipped the can out of the cooler and handed it to Fr. Espicce. The metal was ice cold, and the perfect temperature for a good beer.

"You know, my first beer was a Blue Ribbon. I drank it in Vietnam in 1967. We got cases and cases of all the beer we could drink." Fr. Espicce said.

"Man, that must have been the life, huh?" Rod asked.

"Oh, well, when you risk your life for the country, I think we deserved it all." Fr. Espicce replied, popping the top of the can, and the signature 'splursh' crisp sound came out as the smell of malted grains hit the nose of the priest.

"So, you just got all the beer you wanted?" Mr. Laughorne asked.

"Oh yeah, the military brought in truckloads of it. One of my friends was a beer runner. He actually ran beer for the Army."

"So Colonel, do you get free beer too?" Mr. McGee asked Col. Moore.

"Well Tom, we used to back in the 90s. We don't get it much anymore. Mostly at holidays." Col. Moore replied.

"Still though, I wish I got free beer." Mr. McGee said.

They all mumbled in agreement.

"Gentlemen," Fr. Espicce said, putting up his can, "I propose a toast to Rodney Van Wilmer, soon to be re-married to his lovely wife."

"Here, here!" they all said as they put their cans together and took a long swig of their beers. Men and their beer. Perfect match.

At Double D's house, all the lights were turned out and the women were curled up on the couch, glued to the TV, as they were watching some estrogen fueled, feminist supported Lifetime Original Movie, which was about as original as Cheech and Chong at the Amsterdam Hash Festival.

Lee, Marie, and May were sitting on the floor, bored stiff. They couldn't stand this whole thing, and just wanted to be with their main squeezes.

They got up and stretched, before all the middle-aged women screamed at them to get away from the screen.

"Mom, can we go outside?" Marie asked.

"Sure, go, have fun." Barbara said, not taking her eyes from the screen.

"Okay girls, let's go!" Lee said, as the three rushed out of the house, happy to finally be escaping the nightmare within.

As they headed out the door, they saw the boys walking up the street.

"Look," May screamed, "It's out boyfriends!"

"He's so dreamy!" Marie said.

"Let's watch em. I think they're up to somethin'." Lee said. They went and hid behind a tree, and watched them go up the street.

"Alright boys, get down here, we gotta remain unnoticed, ya get me?" Carlo said, as they crouched down.

They all mumbled in agreement.

"Alright Lenny, the ammo." Carlo said, turning to Lenny. Lenny reached from a bush that was right next to them and pulled out a couple packs of toliet paper.

"What are we doin'?" Eddy asked.

"We're gonna TP that wood kid's house." Carlo replied. "Load up boys, and toss heavy. Don't under do it."

Carlo then stood up and cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted "Here's five for justice!" as they pummled the house with the toliet paper.

The Kanker sisters just laughed, and had to join in. They ran over to the boys right away.

"Can we join in?" Marie asked in a sweet voice and puppy dog face to Double D.

"Sure, have fun." Double D said as he weakly tossed a roll through the tree.

"I made it, I made it!" he shouted as he grabbed Marie in a hug.

"Okay cutie, now watch this..." Marie said as she leaned back and threw the roll right into the chimney. Everybody applauded her as she did.

Just as Carlo was laughing, he looked at the mailbox. It said "Moore". He stopped laughing and turned to Eddy.

"Hey Eddy, where does wood boy live? What's his adress?" Carlo asked.

"231, why?" Eddy asked tossing another roll over the roof.

"Cause this is 230!" Carlo said as he walked over to Lenny, "Lenny, you big lumoux, this is YOUR house!" Carlo told him as he slapped his face lightly. "You idiot, now why did you say this was wood boy's house?"

"It was dark, I thought this was the right one." Lenny said.

"What, you can't read? Oh, that's right, you probably can't!" Carlo said as he put his hands on his head.

"Carlo, jeez, take it down a notch. At least we had fun." Perci said.

Carlo turned back around, chuckling.

"That we did, that we did Perci." Carlo said. "But we oughtta split, before the fuzz jumps on us. See ya guys!" Carlo said, as the four Boys walked off, waving.

"See ya!" The Eds and Kankers said as they waved back.

"Boy, was that fun or what?" Eddy said, slicking his hair back.

"Hey, I gotta idea." Lee said, "Let's pair off and go off and hide somewhere. That way we all can get more comfortable." Lee said.

"Fine by me." Marie said with her grin as she grabbed Double D's hands, May grabbed Ed's, and Lee Eddy's.

Marie took Double D behind a bush in his backyard.

"So, how've you been, cutie?" Marie asked him.

"I have been lonely and bored until you arrived. I am quite anxious for tomorrow." Double D replied.

"Yeah, I am too. Pretty soon, it'll be our big day." Marie said, leaning close into his face.

Double D sat and pondered it for a minute, then said, "Yeah."

He and Marie leaned in until they locked in a kiss, and made out behind a bush.

After the parties, everyone went home. The three sisters, after coming home from their night with the Eds, went straight to bed.

Rod and Barbara sat in the living room of their house. It was spotless after Double D cleaned it.

"Tomorrow's the big day!" Barbara said, looking into his eyes.

"Sure is, sure is." he said, as they both leaned in and kissed. Soon after, they too went to bed, but couldn't sleep well, thinking of the wedding tomorrow.

_Goin' to the chapel and we're, _

_gonna get married. _

_Goin' to the chapel and we're_

_gonna get married. _

_Gee, I really love you _

_and, we're gonna get married. _

_Goin' to the chapel _

_of love._


	46. Chapter XLVI

Song at the begininning of the chapter:

watch?v=cMfrLFirGWc

Chapter XLVI

_Today's the day, _

_We'll say "I do." _

_And we'll never live lonely _

_anymore_

_Because we're, _

_goin' to the chapel _

_and we're gonna get married. _

_goin' to the chapel_

_and we're gonna get married._

_Gee, I really love you, _

_and we're gonna get married. _

_Goin' to the chapel of love. _

_Bells will ring. _

_The sun will shine. _

_Ohohohoh, _

_I'll be his, and _

_he'll be mine. _

_We'll love until _

_the end of time. _

_And we'll never _

_be lonely, anymore. _

_Because we're,_

_goin' to the chapel_

_and we're gonna get married._

_goin' to the chapel_

_and we're gonna get married._

It was finally the morning of the wedding. The sun rose over the humid summer air. The day would be like no other.

The three sisters got up out of their beds fairly early. The wedding was scheduled for 11:00 AM. It was now about 8:30, give or take a nanosecond.

When they got up, Marie immediatly went down the stairs and into the kitchen. There sat Rod in the kitchen. He was sipping his coffee and reading the paper, in his bathrobe. He scratched his face often as his morning stubble bothered him greatly every morning. He was looking at the comics section when Marie walked in.

"Where's mom?" she asked as she wiped her eyes and yawned. Marie was hardly a morining person, and would have personally enjoyed being able to stay in the bed.

"Oh, she's at the hotel with her parents. She has the superstition about me seeing her on her wedding day, I don't know. I guess we'll see her at the wedding, won't we?" Rod said, taking another sip of the coffee.

"That's pretty weird." Marie said.

"Well, your mom's always had some bizzare habits and superstitions. Ever since I've known her at least." Rod said, scratching at his face some more.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Marie asked, refering to his constant face scratching.

"Oh, well, see men grow facial hair pretty quickly. And overnight we get short stubble on our faces. That's why we have to shave every morning. If we don't it gets all itchy, and it really bothers me. It bothers most people." He said, turning the page on the paper.

"How long have you been doing it?" Marie asked.

"Oh,...since I was about 14 or 15 years old. Back then I only had to do it once a week. But you grow more as you get older."

"Do you think Double D shaves?" Marie asked.

"He's about 15, isn't he?"

"Yeah."

"Then he probably does. Smell his face one day. If you smell shaving creme, then you'll know." he responded, putting the newspaper down.

"Smell his face?" Marie asked, a little weirded out by that.

"Yeah, you kiss 'im, don't ya?" Rod asked, standing up now.

"Yeah." Marie responded.

"Do it then." he said smiling. "Now, I'm going up to shower and get ready. You girls don't fight over the other shower now. Take turns." Rod said as he walked out of the kitchen and down the hall, to the bathroom that was connected to their bedroom.

Marie then went and fixed her a bowl of Chunky Puffs and took Rod's seat at the table as she opened the paper back open to the comics, and laughed as she read the classics like Garfield and Beetle Bailey.

"Marie, is there any cereal left?" Lee asked as her and May came into the kitchen and started rumbling through the cabinets.

"Yeah, there's two whole boxes in the cabinet right there." Marie said, aggrivated by Lee's lack of social politness, and general laziness.

"Get us some bowls, would ya May!" Lee called out as she got out the Chunky Puffs and milk from the refrigerator. Marie looked with suspence as Lee poured her cereal, and got up and made flashing dash up the stairs toward the bathroom.

"Did she just go to take her shower?" Lee asked, turning around.

"I think so, why?" May asked.

"May, you betta go get ya telescope." Lee said.

"Why?" May asked.

"Cause you're gonna see Haley's comet before Marie get's out of the bathroom." Lee said.

Marie took her shower and handled all of her grooming and such. With her towel wrapped around her, she combed her hair. She combed it in the same way she always does, but exposed her right eye. She looked in the mirror and smiled at how beautiful her brunette hair looked perfectly brushed. She rarely took the time to actually brush it good.

Coming out of the shower, she went into her room and put on her wedding garb. All the girls had matching cream-colored dresses that were strapless. Marie put hers on and looked in her door mirror. She examined her look, her sway, her overall appearnce.

"Marie Kanker, you are one pretty girl. Double D must go absolutely nuts over you." she told herself. She completely shocked herself by saying that. Never before had she seen herself as pretty. She always called herself ugly and things like that. She actually saw herself in a new light now. In a light Double D showed her.

"Alright Lee, it's your turn." Marie said as she walked down the stairs and sat on the sofa.

"Batter up." Lee said as she disappeared up the stairs.

"Marie, you look absolutely gorgeous!" May said. The girls had never been this dressed up for anything before.

"Thanks so much May. I'm sure you're gonna look great too." Marie said with a sincere smile.

"Ah, stop it Marie, you're makin' me blush..." May said.

Back in his room, Rod was still lint brushing his tuxedo. He hadn't even showered yet. After he was done, he took and grabbed a small had towel, and went into the kitchen and grabbed a pot and filled in half way with water and put it on the stove to boil. He put a cooling rack over top of the pot and laid the hand towel on it, then put the lid to the pot over the towel. May walked in to see what was going on.

"Whatcha doin' daddy?" she asked as she leaned over the stove.

"Steaming a towel." he said as he smiled at her.

"Why are ya doin' that?" she asked.

"So I can shave." he said.

"Why do you need that to shave?" she asked.

"Because if you put a hot towel on your face before you have, you soften the hairs and open the pores on your face, and you get a closer shave."

"Oh, okay." May responded.

Rod took the pot off the stove after it had boiled for about five minutes and took it to the bathroom with him.

Once he was in the bathroom and had the door closed, he sat down on the toliet, took towel out from under the steamy lid, and wrapped it on his face and neck. He felt like the feeling was practically orgasmic, and let out a relaxed breath as he did so.

"Oh, this is the life!" he said.

After the towel lost it's warmth, Rod stood up in front of the mirror and filled the sink up with hot water. He took out his two blade disposable razor and shaving creme. He splashed his face with the water, then took and rubbed in some baby oil. After lathering up the creme and smearing it on his face, he proceeded to shave. He made two passes, one with the grain and one against it. He had achieved the perfect shave, something he thought was pure fiction up until now. He took a shower, and went back into his room and got dressed.

All three girls were now dressed and beautiful looking. May curled her hair up at the ends, making a Jackie Kennedy type appearence. Lee put a hair band in her hair, exposing both of her eyes. They all complimented each other's appearnces.

When Rod came out, he had on his black tux with vest and white bow tie. His hair was parted perfectly and he looked amazing.

"Oh my goodness dad, you look great!" Marie said.

"Thanks, no let's get going. It's already 10:00. We still have to mingle and what not at the parish. Let's roll." Rod said as the three of them left.

Over at Double D's house, everybody was already ready. Double D was in his tuxedo with vest and black bow tie, his hair also perfect. He had rarely been so dressed up. Mrs. Moore had on her matching creme-colored dress, and Colonel Moore had on his US Air Force "mess dress" uniform, that is, his military uniform tuxedo. He spent the last few minutes straightening out his medals and ribbons.

"Come on Edward, we're gonna be late!" his wife urged.

"Okay, okay." he said as he grabbed his dress cap and they headed out the door and into Mrs. Moore's car.

Eddy's family also headed out. Eddy and his father Tom also had on the matching tuxedos, but Tom had white gloves on, for he was an usher.

Ed's family also pulled out. He and his father had on the matching tuxedo's, and his mom and Sarah had on the matching dresses. Sarah of of course was the flower girl.

When they got to the parish, the parking lot was already full. Everybody was mingling in the chapel. Carlo and the boys were looking all over for the Eds. They also had on the matching tuxedos. They were the altar servers today.

Double D, Ed, and Eddy were all standing in the back of the chapel, talking about how good they looked.

"Hey Double D, we wanna get some pictures before hand, okay?" Carlo said.

"Sure, we could use some photography." Double D replied.

"Alright, the three of ya stand together, okay?" Carlo said as he snapped the picture.

"Alright Lenny, you get the six of us." he said, handing the camera to Lenny. He got the shot.

"Great, now Lenny, I want you to take a bunch of pictures while we go get ready to be the altar boys. Stay hip guys." Carlo said as he, Perci, and Toni walked off to go get ready.

As soon as they did, Rod and the girls got there. The girls immediatley noticed the guys, and vice verca. They were all infatuated in how they looked.

Marie and Double D embraced.

"Marie, you look abosolutely stunning. I can't comprehend how amazing you look!" Double D stuttered out as he kissed her lips.

"Thanks Double D, you look amazing yourself, in that monkey suit." Marie said, giggling.

Lenny took a picture of them together, as well as the other couples, Rod, his brother, his father, the ushers, Barbara's family, and everyone else really.

At about 10:50, everyone scrambled for their seats. In the front rows were the families, and on the left side in the second pew sat the Ed's and the Kankers. Behind them sat the Ed's parents, behind them Carlo and the Boy's parents, and Lenny. Rod, his brother, and Barbara's sister all stood at the front of the chapel at the altar. The two chairs sat there, waiting for the ceremony to begin. The sunlight glazed through the stain-glass window, illuminating the entire chapel.

In the area beyond the chapel, were Barbara and her father. Her father was a frail old man, with balding white hair and round black glasses.

Infront of them was good old Father Espicce, in his white and gold matrimonial vestaments. In front of him stood Perci and Toni with the two candles, and Carlo leading the way with the beautiful golden processional crucifix.

"Alright," Fr. Espicce said, "it's show time."


	47. Chapter XLVII

Chapter XLVII

The cantor went up to his podium behind the altar, and spoke into the microphone.

"Brothers and sisters welcome to the wedding of Barbara Kanker and Rod Van Wilmer. We are about to begin the processional chant, so please stand as we begin this wonderful sacrement."

Everyone stood as the organist began playing Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, and the procession began up the aisle. Carlo leading the way with the cross, followed by Perci and Toni, them followed by Fr. Espicce, and he followed by Barbara and her father. Rod looked with a grinning smile as Mr. Kanker gave his daughter to him. Fr. Espicce reverenced the altar as Carlo placed the crucifix in the holder and sat with Perci and Toni in the first pew.

Barbara was in a white wedding dress with veil. The two stood there as Father Espicce took center stage and stood before the congregation, in front of the two that were to be wed. He took in a deep breath as he spoke.

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Fr. Espicce chanted as he led everyone in the Sign of the Cross.

"Welcome to the wedding of these two venerable people today. May God the Father take up our sacrifice today, and that we may be humbled before him in the tiding sacrement." Fr. Espicce said as he made the greeting.

"Let us pray." he chanted as he raised his hands to give the opening prayer:

"Father, hear our prayers for Barbara and Rodney, who today are united in marriage before your altar. Give them your blessing, and strengthen their love for each other.

We ask you this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever." he said as he lowered his hands.

"Amen." everyone responded

Everyone took their seats, including Rod and Barbara in the two chairs at the altar. Father Espicce went back to his chair and sat down as Carlo, who was today's lector, came up to the podium and opened the Bible. He cleared his voice as he spoke.

"A reading from the Song of Songs." he said as he scrolled down with his eyes to the passage.

"Hark! my lover–here he comes,springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag Here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices. My lover speaks; he says to me, "Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come! "O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, Let me see you, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and you are lovely." My lover belongs to me and I to him. He says to me: "Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; For stern as death is love, relentless as the nether world is devotion; its flames are a blazing fire. Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away." Carlo said as he finished up the reading and took in a sharp inhale.

"The word of the Lord." he said.

"Thanks be to God." the people responded.

At this time Carlo returned to his pew seat as everyone waited for the responal Pslam.

The cantor then stood at his podium as he started the responsal Psalm.

"**The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.**

Blessed the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.

But see, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him,

upon those who hope for his kindness." he said.

"**The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." **They responded.

"Our soul waits for the Lord,

who is our help and our shield,

For in him our hearts rejoice;

in his holy name we trust."

"**The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." **They responded.

"May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us

who have put our hope in you."

**"The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." **they responded**. **

As the cantor finished, he sat back down in his chair behind him.

Carlo then stood back up and walked back to the podium. He opened the Bible back up and scrolled with his eyes down to the verses. He looked back up to the congregation and spoke.

"A reading of the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians." he said.

"Brothers and sisters:  
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.  
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.  
If I speak in human and angelic tongues  
but do not have love,  
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.  
And if I have the gift of prophecy  
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;  
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,  
but do not have love, I am nothing.  
If I give away everything I own,  
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast  
but do not have love, I gain nothing.  
Love is patient, love is kind.  
It is not jealous, is not pompous,  
it is not inflated, it is not rude,  
it does not seek its own interests,  
it is not quick-tempered,

it does not brood over injury,

it does not rejoice over wrongdoing  
but rejoices with the truth.  
It bears all things, believes all things,  
hopes all things, endures all things.  
Love never fails." he said, as he sharply inhaled afterwards.

"The word of the Lord." he said.

"Thanks be to God." they replied.

Everyone, especially the couples, pondered on the reading. It had really spoken to most, if not all of them. None more than the young Kankers and Eds.

Afterwards, everyone stood up as the cantor began the alleluia.

"Alleluia,

alleluia,

alleluia." he chanted as Father Espicce made his way to the podium with the book of Gospels.

"Alleluia,

alleluia,

alleluia" they responded.

"God is love;  
let us love one another as God has loved us" the cantor chanted the verse.

"Alleluia,

alleluia,

alleluia." they responded as they all looked up at Fr. Espicce.

"The Lord be with you." he chanted in his deep baritone voice.

"And with your spirit." they chanted back.

"A reading of the Gospel according to St. John." he said as he crossed the Bible, his forehead, lips, and heart.

The congregation repeated the crossing and said "Gloty to you lord."

Fr. Espicce cleared his throat as he began the Gospel reading.

"Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:  
"I pray not only for my disciples,  
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,  
so that they may all be one,  
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,  
that they also may be in us,  
that the world may believe that you sent me.  
And I have given them the glory you gave me,  
so that they may be one, as we are one,  
I in them and you in me,  
that they may be brought to perfection as one,  
that the world may know that you sent me,  
and that you loved them even as you loved me.  
Father, they are your gift to me.  
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,  
that they may see my glory that you gave me,  
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.  
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,  
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.  
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,  
that the love with which you loved me  
may be in them and I in them."

Fr. Espicce took in a deep breath as he finished the reading.

"The word of the Lord." he chanted.

"Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ." they chanted back.

Everyone sat as Fr. Espicce remained at the podium to begin his homily.

"Love is truly the one feeling that has been placed into us by God the Father that has been unaltered over the years. Love is a pure emotion, that will remain ever constant until the end of time. Our first reading today touches on that. Love is a powerful force that captures the soul of two different people. Two people whom have a connection with their soul to be together. Having to have gotten to know this family known as Kanker over the last few months, it has taken me on a wild ride. They are easily not the easiest family, nor are the odds stacked in their favor. But the one thing that this family did have was love. Even thought they were in the circumstances that they were in, love still prevailed in them. That is obviously expressed in the relationships of the three daughters of Barbara with the three Eds. This family has struggled through difficult circumstances. Poverty, deprivation, loneliness, all came together in an aweful combination. However, God has an interesting way of playing this out. The one thing to help this family out of this hole of poverty and depression would be love. For love is the only thing that can overcome any odds to bring happiness out of blight. To bring sunshine out of darkness. To bring excitement out of despair, to bring joy out of suffering. To bring the new out of the old. Love is the only thing that can do this. Why is this you may ask. It's because love works outside the realm of reality, and connects people through a spiritual bond. Love is not something one can work out on a piece of paper. Love is not a chemical that can be worked with in a laboratory. Love is not a physical item. Love is the spiritual and emotional connection we have with another person. Love is a binding agent. And true love is always true. That is why when you find you're true love, it never leaves you. It's because there is only one true love for those who answer that call. And you can easily tell if the love you have is real. Since love is the only thing that can overcome hardships, it will prevail when all else fails. If you are having a hard time, finacially or mentally, if you have been poverty stricken or just down on your luck. If you have nothing else in this world but the shirt on your back, and yet you still feel the love you share for another person, that is true love. Love does not see. Love does not care what appearnce is. Love has no concept of human physical beauty. Love has no need for it. Love only requires the inner beauty, the beauty of the soul. That eternal beauty of the love you feel. That is all that truly matters. Love does not see wealth. Love, again, has no use for it. If the love is really true, wealth is not even included in it. Love can operate outside the realms of monetary situations. It doesn't need money to work. Love only requires the love of another person to work. And that is what I am leading into next. Love is a bondage of two souls by God's grace. I once heard my philosophy professor at Boston College tell me that 'everyone is just a half, looking for their whole. And with the finding they lock their emortal souls.' It took me a while to truly understand what he meant by that. Everyone is born a half. The sould cannot survive on it's own. It needs the company of another soul in order to go on. To survive. Love can only live on more love. Love requires love. And when those two souls find each other. When that conncection is made. When those souls are interlocked, and the emotions of both people are balanced out, that is when true love takes over. That is the love bond that is unbroken. Man can never tear down what God has put into place. Man can only work with in reality. But love works on a spritual level. And that can never be destroyed. Love requires faith and trust. Love cannot just function on its own. It requires trust from both, and faith from both. Love requires a great deal of faith in order to work. What Paul says to the Corinthians is absolutely correct. It essentially nararrates the fact that a man could move mountains, he can speak many languages, he has wealt, et cetera. But he does not have love. And if one does not have love, one does not have anything. And if one has love, one has everything. Love is the one thing we can still cling to when all else fails. When society fails, when the economy fails, when people fail, when life fails, love will still stand as strong as it ever was. Love will still survive after all is forgoten. When we have nothing, love will remain. When we have everything, love will remain. Love is unaffect by man, for love works outside of men. It is that connection. Out of two come one. Two halfs come together to make one whole. And out of one whole comes one love. One true, unbreakable love. I have seen this nowhere more prevelant than the relationship of Edd Moore and Marie Kanker. They went through a struggling break up, and both suffered greatly afterwards. But after coming to terms with their emotions, and looking into their soul, they were able to find that connection once more. They were able to find that faith they had that their love as true, and they have been more connected now than ever. They truly embody the message of true love. They are not simply a couple. Not simply girlfried and boyfriend. They are half with half, and soul with soul. They truely are destiny, and destiny. They were meant to belong together. It is not by chance. It is by prophecy. It was by truth. It was by love."

Double D and Marie held each others' hands, as Marie could feel a tear escape her eye. There was harldy a dry eye in the whole place at this point.

"And so Barbara, and Rod, as a married whole, you are expected to love each other and your loved ones as God loved the Church. God's love of the Church was undefined. He even sacrificed his own Son for the fate and souls of the Church. His love for the Church will never end, and so should your love never end. For that bond is placed on you in the same way that God placed his love on the Church. Just as God has always held an undying love for you, so must you respect that sacrement by never losing your love for each other. For the day when you lose your love for each other is the day that you lose your faith in the bond that God has for the Church. And in closing, we must remember that love is not an object. You can't imagine love. You can' believe in love. You can't invent love. And you most certainly cannot buy love. You have love, and the moment we as society start finding our faith in the true majesty of love, and the sould with which it resides, is the moment when we discover the secrets of the human soul, and can to come to understand our own love for once. We have to understand that love is not our words. Words are not permanent. Words can be changed from day to day. There is no consistency there. And we cannot express love in thoughts, for thoughts are just as meainingless as words. They are not true, not faithful, not consant. But we have to look into our own souls and caputre the love. We have to discover our love. For love is not what you say, love is not what you think, love is what you feel." Fr. Espicce said as he finished up, took in a sharp inhale, and moved back down to the couple.

Most people were crying by then. Double D and Marie in particular. Fr. Espicce had just dropped a nuclear bomb of emotion on them.

Everyone then stood for the Rite of Marriage. Fr. Espicce was right there at the couple with his hands in the air.

"My dear friends, you have come together in this church so that the Lord may seal and strengthen your love in the presence of the Church's minister and this community. Christ abundantly blesses this love. He has already consecrated you in baptism and now he enriches and strengthens you by a special sacrament so that you may assume the duties of marriage in mutual and lasting fidelity. And so, in the presence of the Church, I ask you to state your intentions." Fr. Espicce said.

"Barbara and Rodney, have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?" Fr. Espicce asked them.

"I have." Barbara said.

"I have." Rod said.

"Will you love and honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?"

"I will." Barbara anwered.

"I will." Rod answered.

"Will you accept children lovingly from God and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?"

"I will." Barbara said.

"I will." Rod said, smiling.

Fr. Espicce then smiled as he headed toward the consent.

"Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and his Church." he said.

The two locked hands and stood before him. They looked into each other's eyes, and stared into each other's souls. The congregation watched on with happiness.

"Rodney, do you take Barbara for your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?" Fr. Espicce asked.

"I do." he said, smiling like he'd never smiled before.

"Barbara, do you take Rodney for your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?" Fr. Espicce asked.

"I do." she said, in her most glorious voice.

Fr. Espicce looked on with a huge smile and said,

"You have declared your consent before the Church. May the Lord in his goodness strengthen your consent and fill you both with his blessings.

What God has joined, men must not divide."

"Amen." Both of them said together.

The little nephew then brought the rings up on the pillow to Fr. Espicce. He patted the boy on the head and took the pillow into his hand, raising his right hand, ready to bless the rings.

"Lord, bless and consecrate Barbara and Rodney  
in their love for each other.  
May these rings be a symbol  
of true faith in each other,  
and always remind them of their love.  
Through Christ our Lord."

"Amen." the two of them said.

Rod then took the ring and placed it around Barbara's finger as he said,

"Barbara, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Barbara picked up the other ring and placed it around Rod's finger as she said,

"Rodney, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

"Now," Fr. Espicce said, "with the power invested into me in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." he said, making the sighn of the cross in the air infront of him, "And of the Holy Catholic Church, and of the State of Ohio, I pronounce you man, and wife. You may kiss the bride." he said, smiling.

Rod lifted Barbara's veil and they exchanged a very brief but passionate kiss. Eveyone applaueded them as they kissed. It was truly a kiss of love.

"And now at the writing of the couple here today, we offer up the needs and interventions of Barbara and Rodney Van Wilmer at this time." Fr. Espicce said.

At this time, Carlo went up to the podium and opend up the notebook of the intentions that Barbara and Rod had written down.

"For the Holy Matrimony of the two, that their spirit may grow. We pray to the Lord."

"Lord hear our prayer."

"For the lovely daughters of Barbara and Rod. May they grow to fully accept the bonding of love. We pray to the lord."

"Lord hear our prayer."

"For the relationships of Edd and Marie, that they may also share their love in this sacrement one day. We pray to the Lord."

"Lord hear our prayer. "

"For the relationship of Eddy and Lee, may their love also have the same future. We pray to the Lord."

"Lord hear our prayer."

"For the relationship of Ed and May, may their love also share the same future. We pray to the Lord."

"Lord hear our prayer."

"For all couples in attendence today, may their be love that is eternal with God the Father Alimighty. We pray to the lord."

"Lord hear our prayer."

After a minute pause, Fr. Espicce concluded the prayer.

"Dear God, we pray that every need and intention of this couple is met by your unwavering grace and Mercy. Throught your son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever."

"Amen." they all responded.

Fr. Espicce then contiuned with the Nuptial Blessing.

"My dear friends, let us turn to the Lord and pray  
that he will bless with his grace for Barbara  
now married in Christ to Rodney.  
and that (through the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ,)  
he will unite in love the couple he has joined in this holy bond."

Everyone prayed silently for a moment while Fr. Espicce extended his hands and continued with the blessing.

"Father, by your power you have made everything out of nothing.  
In the beginning you created the universe  
and made mankind in your own likeness.  
You gave man the constant

help of woman  
so that man and woman should no longer be two, but one flesh,  
and you teach us that what you have united  
may never be divided.

Father, you have made the union of man and wife so holy a mystery  
that it symbolizes the marriage of Christ and his Church.

Father, by your plan man and woman are united,  
and married life has been established  
as the one blessing that was not forfeited by original sin  
or washed away in the flood.  
Look with love upon this woman, your daughter,  
now joined to her husband in marriage.  
She asks your blessing.  
Give her the grace of love and peace.  
May she always follow the example of the holy women  
whose praises are sung in the scriptures.

May her husband put his trust in her  
and recognize that she is his equal  
and the heir with him to the life of grace.  
May he always honor her and love her  
as Christ loves his bride, the Church.

Father, keep them always true to your commandments.

Keep them faithful in marriage  
and let them be living examples of Christian life.

Give them the strength which comes from the gospel  
so that they may be witnesses of Christ to others.  
(Bless them with children  
and help them to be good parents.  
May they live to see their children's children.)  
And, after a happy old age,  
grant them fullness of life with the saints  
in the kingdom of heaven.  
We ask this through Christ our Lord."

"Amen." they said.

"In accordance with Scripture and divine teaching, we dare to say:" Father Espicce started.

"Our Father,

who art in heaven,

hollowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done.

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our Daily Bread.

And forgive us our trespasses.

As we forgive those who trespass against up.

Led us not into temptation,

But deliever us from evil.

Amen" they all said.

"God the eternal Father keep you in love with each other, so that the peace of Christ may stay with you and be always in your home." Fr. Espicce said, starting the blessing.

"Amen."

"May (your children bless you) your friends console you and all men live in peace with you."

"Amen."

"May you always bear witness to the love of God in this world so that the afflicted and the needy will find in you generous friends, and welcome you into the joys of heaven."

"Amen."

"And may almighty God bless you all, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit." he said as he initiated the Sign of the Cross. Everyone followed him in doing so.

"Amen."

Father Espicce then extended his hands again and said,

"Go in the peace of the Lord."

"Thanks be to God." they responded.

The organ than started an instrumental piece as Carlo grabbed the processional cross, Perci and Toni grabbed the candles, Fr. Espicce grabbed the book of Gospels and held it up, and they all got behind Barbara and Rod, who were arm in arm as they walked down the aisle, followed by Carlo, followed by Perci and Toni, followed by Fr. Espicce.

They strolled downt he aisle, a hapilly married couple.


	48. Chapter XLVIII

Songs used in this chapter:

watch?v=WpePWo56zm4

watch?v=Ir97K8wr9Jk

watch?v=kjhQceK0Y6E

Chapter XLVIII

After the wedding had ended, everyone took and started leaving out of the pews and down the aisle. Fr. Espicce, Carlo, Perci, and Toni had all gone to change out of their vestaments. Rod and Barbara were now outside the parish, making out in the parking lot up agaisnt Rod's Buick.

As soon as everyone else started coming out, they had been caught by the three sisters.

As soon as Barbara saw her daughters coming to her, she quickly turned around and blushed heavily.

"Oh, girls, I didn't, uh,...oh,..." Barbara stuttered out.

"What are ya talkin' about mom, you were just gettin' to the good part!" Lee said as the three girls went off with their Eds to scattered areas around the parking lot.

"Hey, wait up." Barbara called out, as she tossed her bouquet of flowers in the air. The girls are scrambled to grab them, and Marie ended up being the one that caught them. Lee and May just groaned in disappointment, as Marie turned around and grinned at Double D. He couldn't help but grin back.

Double D and Marie were walking down the sidewalk next to the church.

"That was absolutely beautiful, wasn't it Double D?" Marie asked him, as they held hands and swung them back and forth.

"It certainly was Marie. Father Espicce's words could cause stone to shed tears." Double D replied.

"Your words are too different." Marie said, giggling, "with all those poems and read, you sure have been taking notes."

"Well, I just write from my heart." he replied.

The two pecked each other on the lips and contiuned to walk on.

Ed and May were standing behind the sign that displayed the church's name right at the edged of the parking lot. Ed of course, not being a very romantic induvidual, just stood there with his hands in his pockets. But May didn't care. As long as she was able to stare into his big eyes and see herself in them, she was more than satisfied.

"What did you think of the wedding, Big Ed?" She asked him, still infatuated with his eyes.

"Oh, it was good." Ed said, not really sure what to say. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the ground. He wasn't really ready to be intimate with May in public. Even after almost two months, he was still unsure if he could do it. He wouldn't even hold her hand in a big public setting. However, this really didn't seem to bother May, for she too was still apprehensive around a large group of people. May and Ed, so similar, it has to mean something. Were they truly meant to be like Edd and Marie? Were they destiny and destiny?

Ed turned to May, and looked down into here. They were now looking into each for the first. They could see each other's souls, and they could see the love.

"May," Ed said to her. May didn't fight his words but just listened to his voice. Ed spoke just loud enough for everybody to hear.

"Yes, Ed?" She asked back, completely surprised by his sudden amorous look and voice.

"I LOVE YOU!" Ed screamed out in his usual goofy voice, yet there was a subtle hint of great affection in his voice. It's almost as if he'd been building up until this very second, and everything before was just one long date, and now was the moment of love.

Everyone turned and looked on as Ed yelled it out. May was extemely shocked by his sudden proclamation of affection. All she could find herself to do is look back into his eyes, as they shared a love-filled gaze. Finally after a couple moments, May gave him the words he was dying inside to hear.

"I love you too, Big Ed!" she cried out as the two embraced and exchanged a very heart-felt and love-fueled passionate kiss. They had finally declared their undying love for each other in public. Ed had finally been overcome with his own feelings. The two just stood there and passionately kissed as everyone watched, with heartfelt expressions.

_This magic moment,..._

_So different, and so new_

_Is like any other, _

_until I kiss you. _

_And then it happened. _

_It took me by surprise. _

_I feel that you melted too. _

_By the look in your eyes. _

_Sweeter than wine _

_(Sweeter than wine) _

_Softer than a summer night _

_(softer than a summer night) _

_Everything I want, I have, _

_Whenever I hold you tight. _

_This magic moment,..._

_While your lips are close to mine..._

_Will last forever..._

_Forever, till the end of time._

Everyone applauded as they finished up. May and Ed had finally let their love take auto-pilot, and they couldn't feel anymore alive. They just stood there, holding each other's hands, gazing into each other's eyes.

And beyond them at the door stood Fr. Espicce, looking on with a smile. He knew his hard work was done.

"Well what are we waitin' for, let's get back and get this after wedding part-ee goin'!" Eddy said as he jumped out of nowhere.

"Let's go!" Rod said as everyone got back in their cars. While all the Ed and May commotion was going on, Carlo and the Boys had painted "Just Married" on the back windshield of Rod's Buick and tied about 12 tin cans to the back of the metal bumper.

"You know guys, this is the first time that we've tied somethin' to the back of the car, and it isn't a person." Carlo said, standing back and looking at it with his arms crossed. The others just mumbled in agreement. He snapped his finger and they disappeared and went to get in Lenny's Cadillac.

Everyone got in their cars and drove off, the wedding car in full regailia. Marie and Double D looked at he back of it from Mrs. Moore's staion wagon as they rode down the road.

"Ya know Double D," Marie said, turning her head to Double D. They were sitting in the backseat, holding hands, "This seems eerily similar, don't ya think?"

Double D flashed back in his memory to the time that the Kankers "married" the Eds. He could remember that day quite well. He only wished that marriage had been as real as the one they were just in.

"Yes, yes it does he said, zooming back out of his memory and back onto her. They just sat and looked at each other, happy and content in their thoughts.

As soon as everyone arrived back at the Van Wilmer house hold, the backyard was already prepared and ready to go. At this point, everybody was starved. The spread was on the table in the backyard, and everyone poured into the backyard, ready to dig in.

The table was over to the side, next to the fence, and the deejay table was at the very back, up agaisnt the fence. As soon as Carlo grabbed his food, he headed over and sat down with his coveted turntable.

Fr. Espicce, now back into his black clerical clothes, went up to the table and observed the large white wedding cake as he fixed his plate. He went and stood next to the Eds and Kankers, who were leaning up against the far fence.

"The food any good?" Fr. Espicce asked Marie as he leaned up against the fence beside her. Marie, who was busy eating, wait until she finished chewing before she answered him.

"Oh my goodness it's amazing Father!" Marie said, "Double D and I made it all. He's been showing me a lot of his methods."

"Oh, so he's teachin' ya how to cook, huh?" Fr. Espicce asked.

"Yeah, isn't that right cutie?" she asked, turning her head to Double D, who was standing right next to her.

"Oh yes, I have been teaching her a lot. We cook together all the time now." Double D replied, eating some pasta.

"You know Marie, Edd's father, Colonel Moore, is an amazing cook too." Fr. Espicce said.

"Really?" Marie replied.

"Oh yes, he can make lasanga that only my grandmother in Rome could top." he said, imagining the juicy lasanga in his mouth.

Over at the table, Ed was hovering around the wedding cake. He tried to grab a small bite, before May came over and caught him.

"Uh-uh-uh mister. Not until Mommy and Daddy get their pieces." she said, wagging her finger in a playful manner.

"But pudding cup, I want some! Ed's tummy growls at the very look of the cake!" Ed said, holding his rumbling stomach.

"You're gonna have to wait, Big Ed." she said with a smile, "But there's something else that you can get that you don't have to wait for." she said, seductively.

"What?" Ed asked, completely off track of where she was going.

"You'll find out tonight..." she said, as she grabbed his hand. Ed was a little concerned by her words, but greatly took her hand as they went back over to where the other Eds and Kankers where.

As soon as Fr. Espicce was done conversing with Double D and Marie, he strolled over to Carlo, who was talking with the other three Boys.

"Father, let me just tell you that was the best event I have eva seen in my life. Bee-utiful Padre, just bee-utiful." Carlo said.

"Well, I tried my best Carlo, that's all we can do. And you boys did great as well. Really hit it home. And Lenny, be sure to send me those pictures, will ya?" Fr. Espicce asked Lenny.

"Sure thing Father, I can get 'em to ya Sunday afta Mass, how's that sound?" Lenny responded.

"Perfect, that'll be great." Fr. Espicce said as he now walked over to Barbara and Rod.

"How are the newlyweds doin' over here?" He asked them, smiling.

"Oh, just perfect Father. I don't think I've ever heard a more beauiful homily in all my life. You really did shine today." Barbara responded.

"Well, I just reflect the light God shines on me, just as you reflect the love you give each other." Fr. Espicce responded.

"There is goes again!" Rod said, "This man is unstoppable!"

The group chuckled over this for a moment, reflecting the poetic epptitude that Fr. Espicce bore on his shoulders.

After everyone had finished eating, Fr. Espicce went up to the cake on the table and dinged his wine glass to grab everyone's attention.

"Alright everybody, it is now time for the wife and groom to cut the cake!" he said as he handed the knife to Rod.

"As long as he doesn't cut the cheese, I'll be alright." Edd whispered into Lee's ear as the two of them chuckled.

Rod sliced a small piece off and shoved it into Barbara's mouth, getting it everywhere. She then took a piece and did the same with him. The two laughed as Lenny got up and shot off a couple of pictures.

Everyone then got up and got there cake, but Ed bumrushed them all and dove head first, luckily only taking off the very top part of the stacked cake with the little bride and groom pieces on the top. Everyone laughed as Ed took and shoved the entire top piece into his mouth, and swallowed it whole.

Of course, everyone got their cake, and did as they do in Rome: eat cake.

After all the laughter was subsided, Carlo spoke into the mircophone at the deejay table, grabbing the attention of everyone.

"Alright all you's guys, listen up. We're gonna play the first record now, and this is only for the bride and groom to dance to. The first dance. The song is of personal request of the groom, Rod, and was hand picked out of the personal collection of Double D. He writes that it 'is dedicated to the only love I know, Barbara.' Now here's the song, and please, give the groom and bride plently of room." Carlo said as he placed the needle down on the spinning record and Rod and Barbara went to the middle of the yard as everyone encircled them. The two grabbed each other in a dance position and started moving as the music started.

_Barbara,..._

_Barbara,..._

_Barbara,..._

_my love..._

_If Barbara were an angel,_

_I pray she'd watch over me,_

_If Barbara were a queen, _

_Her servant I would be. _

_If Barbara would be mine, _

_and wear my high school ring._

_Then I'd climb the highest mountain,_

_do just anything..._

The two coninued to dance, as they held each other tight.

_If Barbara were the winter chill, _

_I'd stand out in the cold. _

_If Barbara were a tree, _

_Her branches I would hold. _

_If Barbara would love me, _

_And say that she'd be mine_

_I'd swim the deepest ocean, _

_stop the hands of time. _

_Barbara please say, _

_That you're in love, _

_in love with me. _

_Don't let me lead _

_This life, this life of misery_

_Whoa oh let me kiss your tender lips, _

_and know your secret charms. _

_And let me know what real love is. _

_And hold you in my arms. _

_And if this love I pray for_

_Should it all come true_

_Then with all my heart, dear, _

_I'd love no one but you. _

_I'll hold you in my arms, _

_for now and ever more. _

_And we will walk together,_

_Through love's, _

_sacred, _

_door._

_Barbara, _

_Barbara, _

_Barbara, _

_my love. _

_Barbara, _

_Barbara._

_Babara, _

_My love, _

_Barbara..._

As the song finished, they just stood there, stopped dancing, and kissed each other. Everyone applauded them and cheered on, especially the Eds and Kankers.

"That was Barbara, by the white Temptations." Carlo said.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is now time for the couples slow dance. So if you have a gal, grab her now, cause we're gonna do this!" Carlo said as he took off the other record and slipped on the next one. All the couples grabbed each other, none too tightly then Edd and Marie. The held each other tight as the record started.

"I love when you hold me." Marie whispered in his hear."

"I love when I can hold you." Double D whispered back. The music had just started, and everybody started swaying and slow dancing.

_I bless the day I found you  
_

_I want to stay around you  
_

_And so I beg you, let it be me_

The couples danced, as they held onto each other very tightly.

_ Don't take this heaven from one_

_If you must cling to someone_

_Now and forever, let it be me_

_Each time we meet love_

_I find complete love_

_Without your sweet love what would life be_

_So never leave me lonely_

_Tell me you love me only_  
_And that you'll always_

_ let it be me_

_Each time we meet love_  
_I find complete love_  
_Without your sweet love what would life be_

_So never leave me lonely_  
_Tell me you love me only_

_And that you'll always_

_Let,_

_it, _

_be, _

_me..._


	49. Chapter XLIX

Just as a note, I plan on doing some "Behind the Scenes" stuff for "Come and Go with Ed." Stuff like uploading pictures of my original drafts, sketches of the characters, all that.

Songs used in this chapter:

watch?v=vXrnBT93Jrw

watch?v=-E4FRtrD9aQ

Chapter XLIX

After a while of partying and having fun, everyone eventually filtered out. Fr. Espicce of cource was the last one to leave, and gave a heartfelt lesson vefore he left.

"Father Espicce, you have been here for us so much, I don't know how I can thank you enough." Barbara said as she was about to leave.

"Well, I am just the speaker of the word. The messanger. I take no credit, but give it all to a higher authority." he said, as he smiled at her and went back into his car, and waved good bye as he drove off.

Double D and Marie were busy cleaning up the backyard. It wasn't that hard to do, as all the food was gone and the trash was put away. All they really had to do was put the trash in the cans and wash the dishes. They actually had some pretty good fun while they were doing it.

Rod and Barbara had gone into the living, and were still sipping on the last of their wedding champaigne. They sat on the sofa, pretty consent in their marriage. No longer was there any real dispute between them. They had finally uncovered the ashes of their love, as as the proverbial phoneix-out-of-the-ashes, the relationship of Edd and Marie had risen up, almost unexpectedly, and given their love more precident. They had given their relationship special mention in the wedding because of it. They felt that the love that developed between Edd and Marie gave them new faith for their own love. They could finally feel a tiny connection again. And with that they grew on and grew on. Just to think, if it had not been for the love between Double D and Marie, everyone would still hate each other. The sisters would still be fighting, Barbara and Rod would still be at each other's throats, and they would still be in poverty, not knowing about anything with their finacial situation. Not knowing about the future. But the love between Double D and Marie, and ultimently Ed and May as well as Lee and Eddy gave them new hope. It gave them more focus. It gave them the mental cue that hey, if they could do it, why can't we. It gave them that sense of complete understanding. Then Father Espicce coming in, and basically laying down the law of love, with his sagacious sayings. Many things had accumlated in the past two months that had really changed their mind about a great many things. But love is that constant reminder, that constant metophorical tugging at the sleeve, reminding people that the soul still reigns over the heart, and that love unites all things into new.

"You know, I haven't felt this happy in a long time." Rod said, sipping some of the champaigne out of his glass, and looking at Barbara.

"I haven't either. You know, it's funny, but somehow I feel the kids had more fun than we did." Barbara commented.

"Well, they probably did. I mean, they got to play dress up, be together in a beautiful ceremony. It was sure to have an impact on them." Rod replied.

"Maybe you're right." Barbara replied.

"Of course I'm right." Rod said, as he put his arm around Barbara's shoulder.

It had been a long day for the both of them, and they were just ready to go to bed.

Outside, it was already reaching nightfall, as the sun had already dipped below the horizion and the peaceful twilight set in. Double D and Marie had finished cleaning up by now. They were also tired. Double D still had his tuxedo on, but his shirt and jacket were all ruffled and messed up, and his black bow tie was undone and dangled to the side of his collar, similar to Jerry Lewis after about 10 hours of the telethon. He was very exhausted, and his hair was fairly messed up, though still in part. He sat on the concrete padio outside the back door of the Kanker house, with his legs in the grass, and his head in his hands. Bags had formed under his eyes and the fatigue he carried was quite noticable.

Beside him sat Marie. She was still in her dress, but she had taken off her shoes. She also sat on the edge, next to Double D. She was, just as he, very fatigued by the long day that she had seen. She was quite satisfyed with the day, as it had been one of the happiest in her life. All her life Marie had wanted nothing but happiness. She had search and searched for it. And she had it within Double D.

"That was some day, huh?" Marie asked him, grining as she kicked her feet around in the grass a little.

"Well, it certainly was long, I'll assure you of that." Double D said.

"Yeah, the whole ceremony was just so beautiful. Fr. Espicce is just such a good person. He was certainly there for us when we needed him. He was the only person that could talk any sense into me after we broke up for those couple of days. He really made me realize how stupid I was being. I really took advantage of the love we had. I took advantage of your caring nature. I took advantage of everything." Marie said, looking down at the ground, angry at herself for all the hurt she had caused Double D a month ago, even though Double D considered it ancient history. He hadn't really thought of it much since then anyway. So he was not in the least bit concerned about it anymore. He didn't even consider it relivant anymore. Water under the bridge, over the dam, in the creek, and where ever else you want it to be.

"Oh, that is nothing anymore, Marie." Double D said, surprised that she still was clinging to that horrible memory.

"Oh come on Double D, I was horrible. I treated you badly, and you didn't deserve any of it. I'm just so blessed to have a real boyfriend who loved me enough to take me back after everything I put him through. I just don't realize how lucky I am. A bet a thousand girls would kill to have you. I am just too lucky." Marie said as she lowered her head. A small tear, but still noticeable, ran down her cheeck. She didn't know quite what she was feeling. It wasn't sadness or depression, she didn't have a reason to feel either of those. And it wasn't really an angry feeling. It was really just self-anger, and some pity. She felt bad for how she behaved at the break up, and how she had treated Double D like a doormat that whole time. She just didn't understand how he forgave her so quickly, and as if without thought.

As the tear rolled down her check, Double D turned his head and peered into it. She tried to hide it as much as she could, though she had lille success in doing so. The tear was too visible. Double D couldn't help but notice it. He still wasn't excellent and consoling people, and no where near the level of Fr. Espicce, but he could tell a real tear when he saw one. He lightly brushed her cheek where the tear had slid down with the back of his hand. She took notice at his consolation attempt, and grabbed his hand into hers and rubbed it with her fingers. She smiled up at him as he smiled back.

"Don't worry Marie, everything is perfect right now. My love for you is unmeasurable, and extends beyond the realms of physics. The only reason Einstein published his theory of Relativity is because he didn't know about my love for you." Double D said, hopping she would pick up on his words and be able to connect with them.

"Man, you sure can sweet talk, even through your nerdiness." Marie said as she smilied at him. She meant it as a compliment, and he accepted it with full regard.

"I try." Double D said.

The two then gazed into each other again, like they had done so often here lately. They just sat there, holding each other's hands, staring into each other's eyes. Into each other's soul. Into each other's love. They had been doing this so much here lately. But they felt that it was the zenith of their enamored love and devotion. Double D just couldn't turn away from Marie's blue eys, as they stared him down like he was O.J. Simpson at a latex glove store. He just gazed into them, as he was swept away by their blue enigma, their swayful grace, their cool glance. They were like two oceans of love, looking straight at him. They were the eyes of true love.

_I'll always love you,..._

_I'll always love you,..._

_Love eyes,..._

_You've got those dreamy kinda_

_love eyes..._

_Eyes that set my heart on,_

_fire..._

_You're my one desire._

_Ohooooohoh_

_Love eyes,..._

_You;ve got those thrilling, willing,_

_love eyes..._

_Eyes that hold me, and_

_scold me._

_Must I go insane?_

_When there is only,_

_heaven between us,_

_I could be miles,_

_between us._

_High up above,_

_with nothing to do,_

_but love..._

_Love eyes,..._

_Don't drive me frantic with your,_

_Love eyes..._

_So don't try to be, binding,_

_About thy always,_

_Love...eyes..._

_I'll always love you,_

_I'll always love you,_

As they continued to just look at each other, it was enough to pull them in for yet another kiss.

"Double D, I just love you so much." Marie said, looking at him.

"And,...and I love you so much. More and more everyday." Double D responded.

"Double D,..." Marie asked him.

"Yes Marie,..." he responded, clinching her hands tight.

"Would you like to come up to room, so we can talk a little more?" she asked.

"Certainly Marie, I would love to." Double D responded.

"Great, come on." She said as the two got up and dashed inside the house.

They ran up the stairs, hands still clenched, and into room. She had decorated it a lot more since then, and the walls were littered with pictures of her and Double D. Practically every inch. She had more pictures of him abover her bed than a salior on a three day pass to the magazine rack. She of course had hung all her mechanic-esque posters back up, and it really looked like a really lived in room.

The room was pitch dark until Marie illuminated a small lamp that was on the nightstand next to her bed. She closed the door and the two sat down next to each other on the bed, still hand in hand.

"Double D, do you think what everyone else is thinking is true?" Marie asked him.

"What are you mentioning?" Double D asked, not really sure what she was referring to.

"You know, everyone is saying that we're gonna get married when we get older. Do you believe that?"

"Well, I certainly entertain that idea, yes. I mean, I certainly hope and pray that our future lies in that." Double D responded.

"I hope so too." Marie said. "Because if I want anybody to spend the rest of my life with, I want it to be you. Because otherwise, I wouldn't know happiness again." Marie said, rubbing his hand with her fingers.

"Oh, Marie, I want no one else to know my love but you." Double D said.

"One day all of our dreams will come true. We'll be married, have kids, a nice house. And we'll be happy for the rest of our lives." Marie said, as she lied down on the bed. Double D lied down beside her, and Marie curled up next to him and laid her head on his chest, as he began to brush her hair with his hand.

"It is a pity though, Marie, that we have to wait so long." Double D said.

"Don't worry cutie, because I'll be right here, waiting with you." Marie responded, as the two swiftly drifted into sleep. They dreamt of each other, and their future together.

_Wouldn't it be nice _

_if we were older, _

_Then we wouldn't have to wait so long. _

_And wouldn't it be nice to live together _

_In the kinda world where we belong. _

_You know it's gonna make it that much better_

_When we can say goodnight and stay together_

_Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up _

_In the morning when the day is new,_

_And after having spent the day together, _

_Hold each other close the whole night through _

_Happy times together we've been spending, _

_I wish that every kiss was never...ending..._

_Wouldn't it be nice..._

_Maybe if, _

_we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true,_

_Baby then, there wouldn't be a single thing_

_we couldn't do. _

_We could be married. _

_Then we'd be happy. _

_Wouldn't it be nice..._

_You know it seems the more we talk about it, _

_it only makes it worse to live without it,..._

_but let's talk about it..._

_Wouldn't it be nice..._


	50. Chapter L

Song at the end of the chapter:

watch?v=Sgoj6k0bv8M

Chapter L

As Double D and Marie lay there in the bed, in each arms, Rod Barbara were still downstairs.

"I wonder where Marie went off to." Barbara asked.

"Probably in her room." Rod said.

"Should we go up and check?" Barbara asked, as she was a little concerned about her.

"Might as well," Rod said, "we've got nothin' else better to do."

The two crept up the stairs and walked down the hall, looking for any traces of Marie, and where she could possibly be.

Eventually they stumbled her door, which was closed. Any other time this wouldn't necessarrily be a decent clue, since her door was always closed, whether she was actually in it or not. But the smoking gun was the slight lisp of light from the lap next to Marie's bed that came from the crack under the door.

"I think we have an answer. Now let's see what's behind door number one..." Rod said as he slowly turned the door knob and creaked the door open, being sure not to make any noise. As the door finally opened, he looked in and saw Marie and Double D lying on the bed. Double D was lying on his side, and he had Marie craddled in arms. Her head was buried into his chest as he had his hands hugging around her. Rod couldn't help but smile at this cute little scene.

"What is it?" Barbara asked, fearing the worst.

"Come here and see." he said, motioning her over. Once Barbara laid eyes on the two of them, her heart couldn't help but warm up and she also smiled.

"And guess what?" Rod said as he stuck his hand in his pocket.

"What?" Barbara asked him, still keeping her eyes on the two kids.

"This time, I actually do have a camera on me!" he said giggling as he whipped out his little digital camera.

"I bet you're gonna have that camera in your pocket all the time now, huh?" she asked him, in an almost psudeo-sarcastic fashion. It's almost intended for her commet to be completely rhetorical.

"You bet I am!" Rod said, in a soft, quiet voice, as to not wake the two.

He tip-toed in the room and positioned himself at the foot of the bed, so he would be able to position the camera to get the whole picture in. After a few seconds of adjusting and focusing, Rod turned the flash off and snapped two or three pictures of them.

"Did ya get it?" Barbara asked, as she tiptoed over to look at the camera, and to see the pictures that he took.

"Sure did." he said with a smile, showing her all the snap shots he had accuired.

"You are so good at taking pictures, Rod!" Barbara whispered to him, pretty amazed by his photographic expertice.

"Well, I did get into it a lot back in the 90s. I use to do some crime shooting back when I was on the force." he said.

"Well, we better be going. We don't wanna wake them up." Barbara said, inching toward the door.

"Hold up a sec, I wanna do somethin' first." Rod said, as he looked under the bed and pulled out a nice woven blanket. He unfolded it and threw it over Double D and Marie. They stirred a little, but returned to their positions and huddled up together again. Rod nodded his head up and down, quite content with himself, and tip-toed over the lamp and switched if off, leaving the room dark, and the only light came down from the living room down at the bottom of the stairs.

"They just look so precious, don't they?" Barbara asked him as he pulled the door tightly shut with a slight motion, again trying not to wake the two lovers.

"They look absoluetly adorable, and now I have the evidence." Rod snickered. The two started down the hall, toward the stairs.

"You know, this is the stuff that memories are made of." Barbara said, turning her head to Rod.

"No," Rod said, looking back at her, "this is the stuff love is made of."

After Rod had finished his statement, Barbara turned her head and looked all over, searching every corner for Fr. Espicce, for she was certain that was him throwing his voice.

Outside, in the dark cul-de-sac, Ed and May were walking down the street. The street-lights illuminated the soft glow as the crecent moon was shining down bright onto them. It was almost if the stars shinned only for them, and them alone. They walked, thought not hand-in-hand yet. No, they just walked side by side. Down the street toward Ed's basement. Ed and May both had already changed from their wedding clothes and into their typical attire.

Sure, Ed and May had been "going together" for a while now. But they hadn't really been "going steady" like Double D and Marie. They didn't see each other every waking moment like Double D and Marie was. They knew they had feelings, but they didn't really feel "love" yet. They didn't feel that. They weren't intimate at all, and most likely because of Ed's shyness and rather awkward approaches for romance. Ed didn't know love from a strange gravy boat. He didn't know how to aboslutely lock his soul into May's. He didn't know how to approach love. But he had been taking mental notes from Double D and how he acted around Marie, and how they were in love. He wanted to feel that with Marie, he wanted to be absolutely in love. Did he dare think it? The thought of being in love? Was that knew to him? In a way, it pretty much was because Ed wasn't an expert on love at all. But he wanted love for him and May. He wanted that deep and personal connection. Though they had had a few quasi-intimate moments, they hadn't had one large romantic gesture that would ensure true love ways for the both of them.

As they went into the basement window, Ed went and sat down on the edge of his bed. He invited May to come sit next to him. She did so, and awkwardly at first. As she sat down, she took a look around the room and noticed that it was still fairly clean, clean for Ed anyway. She took note of his gravy tub, which he had neatly placed right beside the door that went into his bathroom. It was filled to the brim with Ed's favorite thing in the world, brown beef gravy. May was very interested as to why he had a bathtub filled with gravy.

"Ed," she said, looking at him. He looked down at her, a little nervously.

"Yes," he said as he scratched the back of his neck with his hand. He actually said it in a semi-serious voice, something that he only used around May.

"Why do you have a bathtub of gravy, and a stack of butter toast, and pudding skins?" May asked him, pointing at each item as she called them off.

"Oh, that is a funny story" Ed said in his serious voice, "One day me and Eddy and Double d were in pre-school, and it was around Thanksgiving time. We were at lunch, and they were serving turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes. Eddy bet me that I couldn't drink all the gravy that was left on the tray. I took him on the bet, and he charged all the other kids a nickle a piece to watch me do it."

"But I always thought that Eddy charges a quarter for everything, like that time we stole you guy's scam money, it was a jar of quarters." May said.

"Inflation." Ed said, holding up his finger. "Anyway, I drank all the gravy, and it was good!" Ed said in his normal voice. "Eddy took and filled up a tub of gravy the next day here in the cul-de-sac, and charged everyone a dime to see me drink the whole tube of gravy, through a straw."

"Did you drink it all?" May asked.

"Ed liked the gravy!" Ed said in his goofy voice, "I drank it all and asked for seconds! And I did it everyday for a while, and Eddy made a toenail of money. Ed's right foot was pleased! I liked it so much, that I started drinking it everyday, so I just keep a tub full of it in here, so I'll never run out."

"Oh, that's cool Ed!" May said, amazed by his bizzare rituals. "I wish I could have a tub of gravy in my room!"

Ed was shocked that someone considered his strange habits "cool". No one had ever considered him "cool" before. Even his two best friends thought he was the weirdest person on earth. That made him feel a little more closer to May.

"Well May, you're my tub of gravy!" Ed said, almost as if he had not said it. He couldn't believe that those words actually came out of his mouth. He wanted them to stay inside his head, but love has a way of doing things to people.

May looked strangely at him after he said, furthering Ed's nervousness. Then she looked with a smile and said:

"Ah, gee Ed. You didn't have to say that." but she honestly wanted him to say more, and more, and more.

"It's just, everyone hates me cause I do all kinds of weird stuff. Nobody understands me." Ed said, looking down at the ground with a slight melancholy over his face. The proverbial cat had been let out of the bag. Ed had finally expressed his inner most thoughts, to a person he had hated up until about two months ago.

May looked at him and touched her palm to his chin and lifted it back up, and she looked into his eyes.

"Don't worry about it Ed. I'm weird too. No one likes me either." she said to him.

"Really?" Ed said in his serious voice as he elevated back up and looked into her eyes.

"Really. People have never liked me either. The only reason Lee and Marie stay around me is because I have to. They make fun of me all the time for doin' weird stuff. But I don't let it get to me. You wanna know why?" she asked him.

"Why. Ed needs to know!" Ed said, in his goofy voice.

"Because I know that me being weird is just being myself. And I love being myself. I don't wanna be someone I'm not. I'm May, and I don't care if people hate me for it. As long as I like being myself, I am fine." she said.

The words she had spoken were very uplifting to Ed. They gave him new meaning. He hadn't felt it before, but he felt something. He wasn't sure if it was love.

"May, this flathead cares about you. And he like the real you." Ed said, grinning his typical big silly grin at her.

"You really mean it Ed?" She asked.

"Ed means it!" he yelled as he wrapped her up in a big hug. She didn't fight it at all. She new it was love. But Ed still wasn't sure. He was still very confused about it, but he wanted more of it. He had finally found someone that would look past all his faults and accept him for who he truly was. He had found May.

_Yes,...it's...you..._

_Yes,...it's you..._

_And I will always _

_love you. _

_So, if you want..._

_want me. _

_Take me as I am. _

_Here...I stand. _

_Just a plain and simple joe. _

_I'm not perfect, _

_nor do I claim to be so. _

_So if you want...me. _

_Take me as I am..._

_I'm not a genius, _

_nor do I want to be. _

_I'm not perfect, _

_as you can plainly see._

_So if you...want me. _

_Take me as I am..._

_I know just how _

_to treat you..._

_And make you, _

_love me strong. _

_I never loved, _

_anyone else. _

_Any you taught me _

_right from wrong..._

_Yes, it's you..._

_Yes, it's you..._

_And I will always,..._

_Love you. _

_So if you...want me, _

_take me as I am..._

_you take me..._

_take me as..._

_I am..._


	51. Chapter LI

Big Note: Most of this chapter and many chapters after it will be written as a flashback, when the Kankers first moved into Peach Creek. Hopefully that will clear up any confusion. "*" will indicate when the flashback begins, and where it ends.

Song at the end of the chapter:

watch?v=mW2Bi9J2hQE

Chapter LI

Marie and Double D were still sleeping on the bed. It was now, oh, probably 11 o'clock that night, or it was just really late. (So late that it was actually early.) Since they had been sleeping since about 8 o'clock, Marie got up and rubbed her eyes. She looked over and saw Double D, who was still lying on the bed, quite at peace in his sleep. Marie just smiled as she his innocent, dreaming face.

She reached and pulled her pillow out from behind her and fumbled her hand around in it for a minute. After fooling with the inside, she pulled out a small square shaped item, which looked like a box at first glance, especially being as dark as it was.

Marie went over and turned on her light on her lamp. She hoped that the light wouldn't stir Double D out of his sleep. The light know shown on the item, which turned out to be a small journal with a lock on it. Marie fumbled around in her shoe until she pulled the key out of the bottom of the sole. She took and inserted the key into the lock on the front of the diary, and twisted it open. The periwinkle pages in it provided beauty with pretty pink ink written in fairly poor cursive, but still script nonetheless. She looked over the pages as she fliped through them. It was fairly full of many, many writings and passages. Eventually she got to a clean page and whipped out the pink-inked pen that was hidden within the pages. As she clicked out the ball point that was concealed within the plastic, she began to scribble down her thoughts of that day.

.

_Dear Diary,_

_Mom and Rod got married today. It was a beautiful ceremony. The priest, Fr. Espicce is really good and gave a really good speech. He is really good at that type of stuff. He always says the right stuff. As for me, I'm doin' pretty good I guess. Sittin' here beside my cutie right now. He is sleeping right now. He looks so cute when he sleeps. Just like an angel. I am so glad everything is going great for us right now. Hopefully our wedding will be as mom's was today. That is all I can ask._

_With love,_

_Marie K._

Of course Marie couldn't expect that the light wouldn't eventually bother Double D's eyes. Just as she had finished writing her entry for today and dating it, Double D started stirring as he rose up out of the bed. He groaned as he rubbed his eyes. He typically was a fairly light sleeper anyway, so getting up at an hour like this was no alien idea to him. He had done it plenty of times. Especially when he had had a genius idea for a scientific experiment or a mathmatic formula. He had almost forced himself to be a light sleeper, because since his brain was on auto-pilot all the time, he couldn't really help.

"Good morning cutie." Marie said as she turned around and smiled at him. Double D just looked back at her as he rubbed his eyes once more.

"Oh, hello Marie. What time is it?" he asked.

"Um, 12:23." she said. She had glaned over at her alarm clock to recieve the time.

"Wow, we must have been dormat for at least four hours." Double D responded, rubbing his head.

"Yeah, but I was with you." Marie said, dreamily.

"Marie, I must inquire, what is that item you have in your hands?" Double D asked.

"Oh, this? Oh,...its uh,...it's nothin'." She said as she scrambled to try to conceal the diary.

"No, I did see it Marie. There is no reason to keep the secret any longer." Double D said.

"Oh,...okay." Marie said as she let out a sigh. "It's my diary."

"Oh, I had no idea that you kept an emotional recordbook like I do." Double D said.

"I got it the day after I first saw you. When we first moved here. My first entry is of the first day that I laid my eyes on you." Marie said.

"Would you be willing to share it with me?" Double D asked.

"Well, I think I should keep my diary to myself, but I can tell you the whole story. That is, if you want to hear it." Marie said.

"Marie, I would like nothing more than to hear the story." Double responded as he got up and sat down next to her on the end of the bed.

"Okay," Marie said, taking in a big deep breath, "here it goes."

*The day was like anyother in the cul-de-sac. The sun was shinning, the birds singing. The only thing different was that Edd had lost his magnifying glass and Sarah had lost her doll. Other than that, nothing was different, in the cul-de-sac that is. Up on the hill, in a place called the Park-n-Flush trailer park, there was something much different going on.

The Kanker family was just now moving into the trailer park. Their mother, and the three sisters: Lee, the oldest, Marie, the middle, and May, the youngest. The trailer park was a dirty, nasty, filth-hole where it is surprising that humans can actually live.

The Kanker mother was a busy single mom that was working practically all the time, or at least all the time in the minds of her daughters, for they barely, if ever, saw her. They had just moved in yesterday, and it was up to the three daughters to finish unpacking all the junk that was to go into the trailer.

"Hey May, watch that box will ya! That's got all my wrestling magazines in it!" Lee shouted out as she sat in a chair outside the trailer, sipping on a soda while she forced her two sisters to do all the work for her.

"Shut up Lee!" May shouted back, as she lifted the cardboard box up and carried it into the trailer.

"Hey don't talk back to me, or I'll tell mom!" Lee said back, leaning a little out of the chair as she did.

May just looked into her face and blew a raspberry at her.

"Yeah Lee, stop bein' so bossy!" Marie commented as she moved some boxes for May to come pick up and carry to the trailer.

"Don't you even get me started on you, Marie. You doin' even less work than May! How are we ever gonna get all these boxes in the house?" Lee said, taking another sip of her soda.

"Yeah, we'd be goin' a lot faster if you'd actually do something but sit there." Marie mumbled under her breath as she moved another cardboard box into May's stack.

"What was that?" Lee asked her, fully leaning up out her chair.

"Oh, nothing." Marie said. "It's just so hot out here."

"I know, tell me about it." Lee said as she wiped some sweat from her forehead and took another sip of her soda.

May now came back out and hauled another box from her stack into the house.

"Gee, where are all the kids at! This is a good place, so where are all the kids?" Lee asked, throwing her hands up into the air.

"They're probably down in that cul-de-sac thingy down there." Marie said, pointing down into the cul-de-sac. Past the bushes, one could really get a good view of the entire neighborhood from up there. It was almost like a proverbial eagle's nest, overlooking every house, every person, every molecule of life that was down in the cul-de-sac.

"Yeah, maybe you're right Maire." Lee said, rubbing her chin. "HEY MAY, go get the binoculars out of our room."

"Why don't you come and get them yourself, you big lazy mean-ie!" May called out of the screen door at her.

"May, don't make me come in there!" Lee said.

"I hope you do, you'll at least be doing something!" May responded.

"Why I oughtta-" Lee responded as she pulled back her fist and started to get up. She chased May around the trailer round and round and round again. Marie just ignored them while she peared through the bushes and looked down into the cul-de-sac. She saw some figures moving around down in the street, as she could barely hear a voice coming from a yellow-shirted guy standing on a box, screaming into an orange cone.

"Attention please!" Eddy said as he yelled into his orange traffic cone, "Hey! Beware of the toucher! Serial toucher on the loose! Hide your stuff, hide your valuables! Serial toucher on the loose!" As he finished, all the other kids started to gather around him, and were fairly annoyed by his attempts and arbitrary theories.

"That dirty toucher took my dolly Poo-Poo!" Sarah cried out.

"It's true." Jimmy said, "won't someone help us?"

Back up at the trailer, May and Lee were still chasing each other around the trailer. Marie just continued to ignore their childish behaviors and had gone inside and gotten her binoculars and a camera. She looked down with the binoculars, and caught her eyes on the kid who was standing in his red shirt and black ski hat. He was of course, Double D.

"Who is that?" Marie asked herself as she looked on at Double D as he moved around, as he and Eddy were afixing the "Don't Touch" sign onto Ed. She looked with dreamy eyes, as though she was looking at an angel. "He has to be the dreamiest guy I've ever seen!" She said, as though the proverbial Cupid's arrow had been shot through her heart. And the arrow had "Double D" written all over it. Marie didn't know how to quite deal with her feelings. They raced through her, and made her feel more happy than she had ever been.

She quickly whipped out the picture, and adjusted the frame on it. She zoomed and focused until she had a perfect picture of the three of them standing together. She snapped off two or three flashes before she went and talked to May and Lee, who were still running around the trailer.

"HEY, knock it off for a minute, will ya!" Marie yelled at them. The two stopped, and Lee walked up to Marie with a very annoyed look on her face.

"What is it now Marie, we're in the middle of doin' somethin' here!" Lee said.

"Look what I found." Marie said, as she showed the Polaroid photos she had taken to Lee. Lee looked at them and saw the three guys.

"Oh man, that one in the yellow shirt is just to fine!" Lee said, giving out a cat-call.

"Hey, let me see!" May said as she pushed Lee out of the way and took the picture. "Oh wow, that tall one in the green is the man of my dreams!" she said.

"Hey, none of 'em come close to my man, the one with the hat. He's the best man there ever was!" Marie contested, already finding herself defending Double D graciously.

"Sure, whateva ya say Marie. But I wonder who they are? That one guy in the yellow is so dreamy." Lee said.

"Oh, I can handle that." Marie said, as she grabbed the picture and took off.

"Where's she goin'?" May asked.

"Who knows. But I'll tell you somethin', that girl's in love." Lee said.

"How do ya know?" May asked.

"Just look at 'er May! The way she is talkin', the way she's skippin', she's been shot through the heart with the arrow of love for whoever that guy in the sock hat is." Lee responded.

Marie skipped down the road and hid behind a dumpster in the alley, waiting for someone to come by.

Eventually Jimmy was skipping down the alley, and Marie stepped out and nearly scared him to death.

"Who,...who,...-"Jimmy started, as he was shaking.

"Oh, hey, I'm Marie Kanker. I'm new in town." Marie said as she stuck her hand out to shake his.

"Um,...okay." Jimmy said, as he grabbed her index finger and moved her hand up and down. "What do you want?" he said, still shaking badly with fear.

"Calm down kid, I'm not gonna hurt ya or nothin'." Marie said. "I just wanna know who the three guys in this picture are." Marie said, holding out the Polaroid in front of his eyes.

"Oh, they're the Eds." Jimmy said. "The one in the green jacket is Ed, the one in the yellow is Eddy, and the one in the hat is Edd with two Ds, so everyone calls him Double D. Why do you ask?"

When he asked why she was asking, Marie tuned a bright red from embarrasement. She just trembled there, not knowing what to say.

"What, do you have a crush on one of 'em or somethin'?" Jimmy asked.

"Okay, look here kid, if you keep a secret, I'll promise not to pound ya." Marie said.

"Sorry, I have to have somethin' in return. Or I'll tell." Jimmy said, crossing his arms.

"Fine," Marie said, very annoyed, "what do ya want?"

"Ju-ju-bees." Jimmy replied.

"Ju-ju-bees?" Marie responded.

"Yeah, you know, ju-ju-bees. There like gumdrops, only better. You give me a case full a day, and I'll keep your secret." Jimmy said, smiling.

"No way, no deal." Marie said, crossing her arms.

"Fine, then I'm telling." Jimmy said, as he started to turn around and walk away.

"No, wait, I'll give you the stupid candy!" Marie said. "Listen," she said, pulling him in close and whispering into his ear, "I have a big crush on Double D!"

"Okay." Jimmy said, happy that he was just able to get some free candy.

"What can you tell me about him?" Marie asked him.

"Well, he's really smart. And he loves animals and nature. That's all I know." Jimmy said, as he skipped back home.

Marie looked at the picture, and the image of Double D was planted in her head for good. But not only was it in her head. It was in her heart. It was in her soul.

"Oh precious Double D, oh handsome Double D, I hope you will accept my love for you, because I like you so much!" Marie said as she glared into the face of Double D, and kissed it several times. She knew so little about him, but she knew one thing. She was in love.

_To know, know, know him, _

_is to love, love, love him. _

_Just you see him smile, _

_Makes my life worth while_

_To know, know, know him, _

_is to love, love, love him. _

_And I do..._

_(and I do, and I do) _

_(and I do, and I do) _

_I'd be good to him. _

_I'd bring love to him. _

_Everyone says he'll come again. _

_I'll walk along side of him. _

_Yes, yes to know him. _

_is to love, love, love him. _

_And I do..._

_(and I do, and I do) _

_(and I do, and I do) _

_I,..._

_can't decieve, _

_how blind can he be?_

_Someday, he will see,..._

_that he, was meant, _

_for me..._

_Ohohoh yes, _

_to know, know, know him, _

_is to love, love, love him. _

_Just to see him smile, _

_makes my life worth while. _

_To know, know, know him, _

_is to love, love, him. _

_and I do,.._

_(and I do, and I do) _

_Yes, I do..._


	52. Chapter LII

Just wanted to say something about the Olympics: Go Team USA. To all my foriegn readers, I hope the best for your teams as well, but I have to back a winner. My country.

Note: this chapter is continuing the flashback from the previous chapter.

Song at the end of the chapter:

watch?v=ch5lZZGKd0E

Chapter LII

Marie was still walking down the alley, thinking about the guy she couldn't get off her mind. It was true, she knew very little, if any, about him, but there was something about him. A mysticism, if you will. An almost, captifying quality about him. She couldn't stop picturing his face. His amazing face. She had never seen a guy like him. It's almost, almost as if she had dreamt about him for the longest time, but was just now seeing the dream unfold. It's almost as if she had known him forever, but she didn't. She had never talked with him. Never even been close enough to see him yet. She couldn't quite figure out if this was just another school girl crush, or if this was really more than that. Dare she to think it was love? Impossible, love is something that occurs over a long time, once couple gets to know each other. Love is something that is gradually built on. Love is something completely different. Or is it? She couldn't quite figure it out. She searched her mind, but so many things were going through it right now. Her thoughts raced. Her heart was beating faster than a congo drum. It wasn't just racing, it was winning. She was breaking out in cold sweats all over. Then feeling burning hot. She felt great and joyous, then depressed and miserable. If it was not love that was calling the plays here, than what was it? It certainly had to be something. Something had to be the proverbial coach on the sidelines. Something had to be the coach, calling the shots, making the plans, telling her right from wrong. Was love really the Bear Bryant of her emotions right now? Was love really the thing making the calls? Or was it something else entirely? But if something else, what? Marie couldn't think of anything else but love to be the explanation. It was the only answer that she could see possible right now. It was pretty much the only viable route that could explain everything: the emotions, the weird, strange feelings. The nervous thinking. It all linked together in an undenible chain of explanations. Marie was in love with Double D. Truly love at first sight. And that's the memo.

"What is going on with me?" Marie asked herself in her thoughts. "What is this? I know that I feel something for him. I mean, I just spilled my guts about a crush to some kid that I don't even know. It has to mean something. It has to be more. It has to be something. It has to be love. No, no Marie. It can't be love, can it? I mean, you don't know who he really is. But he's so dreamy, and so nice looking, and that kid said that he's smart. If I were to have a boyfriend or anything like that, I would want it to be someone like him. He would probably treat me perfect, always say nice things to me, always compliment me. He would be the dream guy. Yeah, the guy they always talk about, but you almost never see in real life. The perfect guy. A little goofy, a little shy, a little soft, a little tuff, a little smart, a little everything. I never thought I'd find him. But I have. And maybe, just maybe, he'll love me back. I can only hope and pray that he does, because if he doesn't why should I have reason to live the rest of my life on this earth with out being with him? He is my only inspiration now. No one else cares about me. Hopefully he does."

Marie continued up the alley, until she reached the trailer park up at the top of the hill. It was just getting dark out, and dusk was turning into night. The bright white moon was out, and shown down on Marie as she walked up the hill. It was a little chili out, and there was a light breezed that blustered out of the west. It was unseasonably cold, for it was only the middle of June, but it was about 58 degrees out. She held her exposed arms in her hands as she transversed up the dark, steep hill. The trailer lights were on, but her mom wasn't home yet. She ususally didn't get home till about eleven o'clock. The girls almost always had the house to themselves back where they came from too. It had left the girls to their own devices much of their lives, and had therefore created a rebellious and wild edge because of it. But the one to show it the most was Marie. She wore the punk-ish clothes, had the blue hair, etc. And the only reason she had done any of it was to get the attention that no one gave her. The only way she could get people to notice her was to dress wild, act wild, and be wild. But she wasn't wild. She was a deep down loving and compassionate girl, with this empty whole in her heart. She knew that only one thing could fill this whole. The love of Double D. That was the only thing that would make her feel complete and whole. That love was the missing piece to her puzzle. She just needed to fit that piece in, and everything would be complete.

She walked up to the loely screen door that complimented the trailer entrance. She peered in and saw the Lee and May were not in the living, but upstairs, probably asleep in their beds. At that point, the sister's had the upstairs room. Marie peered around the living room, just to make sure. After closing the door behind her, Marie could feel her stomach growl. She had eaten since she had had supper the previous night. Or to put it vaguely, twenty-four hours.

She went into the kitchen, and of course, had no luck and securing any foodstuffs there. She search all the counters, the cabinets, the refrigerator. Nothing but ketchup, lard, and soda pop. Man cannot live by junk alone. But somehow her sisters mangaged to do it. Though she didn't see how. Marie always felt quite sick to her stomach after eating any real greasy foods. The grease left an unsettling feel with in her. It wasn't really the food that bothered her. Because most foods taste deliscious when fried. But it was the reminder that they were poor, and couldn't afford anything but the fried foods and junk that bothered her more than anything.

She closed the refrigerator after scanning it up and down. Her hunger bothered her pretty bad, but her thoughts still lied with Double D, where ever he was, and what ever he was doing.

Walking to the living, she sat down on the couch, staring into the blank TV screen. She turned it on, but only static filled the screen. Their mother had not been able to afford the cable for it, so the only things they could pick up were local stations, but it was hard to get signal with in the trailer park, therefore left the screen blank. They had brought many videos with them, for that was pretty much the only thing they could watch via the VCR.

But Marie didn't feel like getting up and going through all the trouble of looking through all the moving boxes to find the tapes. She simply just sighed and continued to sit there, staring into nothing. But in her mind, she was staring into Double D's eyes. His eyes she thought were amazing on film, were probably even dreamier in person. Oh how she just wanted to be by his side, to look into his eyes, to share her love with him.

"Come on Marie, there's gotta be something to do." she told herself in her thoughts. She was quite bored, and couldn't find anything stimulating to do except think of Double D. A person she had not even met yet, had already captured her soul. Marie felt like if she could only have him as her boyfriend, she would be the best girl in the world, and no one would be able to tell her differently.

She got up from the sofa, since there was nothing to do there anyway. Might as well find something else to do. She got up and walked around the living room, not necesarrily pacing, but just walking, trying to get her mind on track with reality. But she felt it was on reality, since she thought that Double D was her reality.

After having walked in and out of the living probably close to twenty times, Marie decided to take and go to the bathroom. If anything else, a nice bath might help calm her nerves. When she went in however, she glided by the mirror, almost not noticing at first. But she took a double-take, and walked back the mirror, and locked her eyes on the person she saw in it. Marie had never really taken the time to examine herself before. She had never recieved any compliments on her beauty before. No one had ever called her pretty, or cute, or anything. In fact, the only things that filled her head were the negative comments. The ones that plagued her.

She stared into the mirror, into her own eyes, into her own face. She thought she looked at least borderline decent, for a girl her age. But as she did, the memories, those horrible, horrible memories captured her brain, and started to torture her endlessly. The words like "You're ugly, so ugly!",  
"Get away from me, you monster!"  
"Eww, get this thing away from me!"  
"Why don't you make me some keys with your teeth?"  
"Why don't you go back to crackin' mirrors?"  
"Who let the cyclops in?"  
"You're gonna be a big,ugly slut, just like your mom!"

Those words haunted her memory. That is all she had been told all her life. That she was an ugly, unwanted piece of trailer trash that wouldn't amount to anything but living off of welfare and being barefoot and pregnant at age 16. That is what her head had been filled with all her life. No good words, only bad. No compliments, only insults. No smiles, only frowns. No laughs, only tears. She had had no one in her life, no one, to call her nice things, to be nice to her, to lend her a hand when she was feeling down, to wipe the tears from her face and tell her eveything will be okay. No one. But she thought this Double D might be different. He might show a little compassion to her. Overlook her flaws, her poverty, her situation, and see her for who she really is. A caring person who is just caught up in a bad life. She didn't choose to be in the situation she was in. She didn't choose the life she was living. If was all circumstatial. But if the writing on the wall was completely factual, which she believed in all her heart and soul it was, then Double D would be that guy who would take her out of the hole of depression she was in, and uplift her to feel like the princess she always wanted to be.

Marie left the mirror. She had to. Or else it would have put too much of the bad memories in, and she would have done something she would have never thought she would have to do. Take her own life into consideration. And the possibilty of ending it.

She walked down through the living room and out the front door. She couldn't bare to see the horrible interior of the trailer, which she equated with being hell on earth. Dante's first level had to be this trailer park, and she was caught inside it. She felt like Double D could be her only escape from it all. Double D could be her golden ticket out of here and into heaven, with him, where she belonged.

She took and sat down on the stoop infront of the trailer. The wind was still gusting, and the air was a bit chilly, for the season it was anyway. Marie grabbed her arms with her hands, and looked into the dirt below her. Her thoughts brought nothing but saddness to her. She felt several tears start to run down her face as she looked down into the night stricken cul-de-sac, eyeing on Double D's house. She started crying now, and her tears drip-droped onto the ground below her, almost if they had been sped up by cameras. It was almost unnatural for someone to cry as she did. She quivered her lips as she just cried, and cried, and cried.

"Oh, how I just want him!" she cried to herself, and she plopped her head down into her hands, the tears seering through the cracks inbetween her fingers and hitting the dirt, puddling up. "Oh how I just want him to hold me in his arms and tell me that I matter. Tell me that I actually mean something. That I'm not just here by mistake. I just want him to love me! I just want him to care..." she said through her sobs, which were growing more and more heavy as her mind centered around his image. Marie just wanted someone to care about her. Someone to treat her with love and devotion. She still felt that that person was Double D.

_Alone,..._

_so alone that I could cry..._

_I wanna be wanted. _

_Alone,..._

_watching lovers passing by..._

_I wanna be wanted. _

_When I am kissed, _

_I want his lips to kiss me. _

_When we're apart, _

_I want his heart to really miss me. _

_I want to know he loves me so, _

_his eyes are misting. _

_That's the way, I wanna be loved. _

_Alone..._

_Just my lonely heart, knows how, _

_I wanna be wanted. _

_Right now, not tomorrow, but right now,..._

_I wanna be wanted!_

_I want someone to share my laughter, _

_and my tears with. _

_Some one I know, _

_I'll love to spend a million years with. _

_Where is this someone, somewhere?_

_Meant for me? _

_Alone,..._

_Just my lonely heart, knows how, _

_I wanna be wanted. _

_Right now,..._

_Not tomorrow. _

_But right now,..._

_I wanna be wanted. _

_I want someone to share my laughter, _

_and my tears with. _

_Someone I know, _

_I'll love to spend a million years with. _

_Where is this someone, somewhere?_

_Meant, for, me!_

_Someone, somewhere, _

_Meant, for, me?_


	53. Chapter LIII

Song at the end of the chapter:

watch?v=tbU3zdAgiX8

Chapter LIII

The moon slipped in and out of the thin clouds that straddled the night sky. The starts were quite visible from this point, and dotted the sky with a million white dots, of course the ones that were not obscured by the thin cirrus clouds that floated past. The crisp air had subsided slight as the wind had died down by then, the coolness felt before had turned into a still, warm air that poured over the trailer park, and subsequently into the cul-de-sac below.

Marie was still sitting on the very same stoop as before, holding her arms and tears running down her face. The sadness still engulfed her, but it was equally expressed by ambition. She soon realized that yes, the situation she was forced to live in was out of her control, but that didn't mean she had to live in it forever. With just one soul, that being Double D's, could change her forever, and pull her out of the grasp that her surrounding life had on her. This trailer park, this lifestyle, this poverty, it was all like a noose around her neck, tightening as she stepped further and further off the deep end. And that noose would just catch her fall, and leave her hanging. Hanging for nothing. Although she felt she had no where to turn before the move, she now had at least a somewhat reliable solution to all her problems. She didn't have to stay in this constant cycle of poverty and depression that she had once thought was in-escapable. She now felt there was at least a little shred of hope left on the situation. That hope being of course the faith she had that Double D would accept her for who she was, if he accepted her at all. But she had some faith, deep down somewhere, though she didn't know exacly where, that he would. And that they would be together. Something told her deep down inside that they were destined to be together. As a wise man would later tell her in the distant future, "nothing happens but chance, and this very day proves that fact." Those words would be uttered by a man she would come to look to as a mentor, and would be uttered a day she could only dream of at this point.

"Come on Marie, cheer up." the voice inside her head told her. "Sitting here crying isn't gonna sovle or do anything."

"I know," Marie said, talking back to the voice, "but I feel so unwanted and hated! I can't help but cry!"

"But you have this feeling for Double D, maybe he'll care about you." the voice said back.

"Yeah, right. He doesn't even know I exist. How will he ever care about me." Marie cried back to her conscience.

"You never know until you try." her conscience replied, "would you rather go on in life with a definite answer, a yes or no, or would you rather go on wondering what could have been, and have that in the back of your brain, plaguing you and reminding you on a daily basis about what you could have done to change everything?"

Marie stopped crying. Though the tears still stained her face, they had stopped flowing. She brought her head back up, and looked inside her own mind. Those phrases had really sunk into her. Is that what she really wanted? To go on in life, either happy that Double D accepted her, or sad that he didn't, or to go on in life, never knowing what could have happened if things went differently. That there was a proverbial 50/50 coin toss, and she oppted out of the whole thing. She could have done something, and changed everything for her future. With just a little bit of patience, a little care, and a lot of love, she could possibly pull this off. She didn't know how, but it was embedded in her mind that she could do something grand, something special, that would make Double D realize the truly amazing girl that she was. She could do that. It was in her power. It was no longer fiction in her mind. It was full out fact. It could take a couple hours, it could take two years. Love doesn't really have a set timetable for those sorts of things.

However, somewhere in her mind, somewhere deep inside her soul, she felt that their love was going to be, and that they would be together forever and ever. Because one just can't feel something this strong, this grappling, this moving, this gratifying, without it meaning something. There had to be an almost spiritual connection between them. Or else, why would she feel the soul-gripping feeling that she felt. It had to be more than feelings. It had to be more than a crush. It had to be love.

Marie then got up, almost if her self-confindence had grown three times larger, and if an x-ray had been present at the scene, on could have seen that her heart grew three times larger as well. She smiled a large smile, for she had concocted a master plan of how to get Double D to fall in love with her. It would start tomorrow. She just knew it would work.

Going back inside, Marie gently closed the door and turned around. She could hardly see, for the only light was that of a small travel lamp that came from some Goodwill store someplace, though Marie couldn't remember. And quite frankly, she didn't care. She just ran to some of the moving boxes and fumbled through them.

"They've go to be in here somewhere..." she said as she moved her hand all over, looking for the magic box. After about five minutes or so of searching, she eventually did find what she was looking for. An old cigar box with plenty of crayons in it. She looked with an approving gesture as she took the box, and she went throught the box of her stuff and found her diary. She ripped a clean page from it and laid it down on the carpet.

With the dim light the lamp gave off, Marie took a pencil and traced the out lines of herself and another person. She had to stop and erase several times, straighten out her lines, and readjust some angles. Marie was not knew to drawing, and had done many a picture. When she was younger, she would use her old step-dad's matchbook covers and sent in drawings to them. There was only one time when she got any papers about it, but they were too confusing to understand.

After she had finished the out lines on the whole thing, she traced over them with a fine-point marker, to give it a more, detailed finished. It added nice contrast to the white lined background, and gave overall more focus to the picture itself. After finishing the dark outline, she picked up blue crayon and started filling in the scribbles for her hair. Then she put the blue back in exchange for a black, and worked on the coloring for her shirt. Then she picked up the red and colored in, then the black for something else. Finally, she picked the red back up, drawing little red hears every where. Finally she put all the crayons back up and pulled the marker back out, and wrote "Edd" on one side, and "Me" on the other. After she was finished, she picked the picture she had drew on blew on it a little, to get all the leftover crayon wax off, so that it wouldn't smear.

She held it up to the lamp light and peered into it. It was an almost perfectly drawn picture of her and Double D, holding each other hand-in-hand, and staring deep into each other's eyes with an enamored look, like that of two lovers that can't be seperated from each other's love.

"Perfect, just perfect. It'll be the perfect present to Double D to show my love." Marie said in a dreamy voice as she held the picture to her heart and smiled about it for a minute or so, not really caring. She just wanted the next day to get here, so she could finally show Double D her true feelings. Finally, she would be able to expose her feelings to this image of a guy that she thought of so much. She couldn't get him out of her mind. He was like a constantly repeating loop, and the picture she had just drawn exposed that even more than she could have known. The drawing was cemented into her thought process. She begged the day would come where this would be a reality. And little to her future knowledge, it would become every bit as true as she dreamed it would be. In fact, it would eventually surpass even the dreams she had then. It would go far and beyond her wildest dreams.

One day.

"Now I just have to find somewhere to put this until then." Marie said, as she lifted up the drawing and waltzed all over the room, searching for the perfect place to put it. She looked all over. In the kitchen, in the room next to the living room, the hall, the stairs, everywhere.

"Hey, now there's a good spot." Marie said as she noticed a bare area on the wall next to the bookcase, which housed car magazines, for the most part.

"Perfect." she said, as she found some tape and plastered the drawing up on the wall. The tape had a little give at the begininning, but eventually adhered nicely to the crude wallpaper that lined the walls of the entire trailer.

She took and stepped back, and gazed up at the drawing she had made. You can't really judge art until you look at it from a distance. Then you can fully take in the whole picture. then you can finally take in every line and stroke that went into it. Because when a person draws, they only see it from the artists' perspective. But after a piece of work had been completed, the artist can take a step back, take in their work, and really relish in the observers' perspective. And that perspective is the best one of them all.

"Great." Marie said as she dusted her hands off. She then turned to the stack of boxes again, and teared into the one that had MARIE written across the side in magic marker. Rustling about in the box were so few, but so important items to Marie. She cherished the little items she did possess. She had never had much of anything, and relished in the items that she did have.

Jostling her hand around among the items, Marie finally pulled her diary back out. She turned to a nice clean periwinkle page, and took out her pink pen, and pressing the top down, exposing the ballpoint from the plastic around it.

Dear Diary, June 6, 2010.

I found a guy today. The guy I have been dreaming about for years. His name's Double D. I don't know much about him,  
but I do know that he is the dreamist, cutest boy I have ever seen. I can't get him out of my mind. Everytime I look at his  
picture, I can't help but be taken capture by his eyes. His enchanting pupils take my soul hostage, but I never want him to  
to let me go. I am going to try my best to aske him out tomorrow night. I just know, deep in my heart, that we'll be going  
steady before I know it. And I'll be the happiest girl on earth. If I can only have him at my side, I can do no wrong.  
He is my reason to think right now. He is my everything, and one day he will be mine.

with love,  
Marie.

She finished up her script as she dotted her "i" in her name Marie. She then took and drew some hearts all over the page, and doodled her and Double D in various poses together. One was hugging, one was holding hands, one was kissing.

Marie smiled as she locked her diary back and slid it back in the box. In the light of the lamp, she laid down on the sofa, staring dreamliy into the ceiling. She slowly sighed in and out as she looked up. Eventually her eyes started to slowly close, and she slipped into a peaceful sleep. Beyond her eyes, in her dream world, she saw Double D. She was right infront of her, looking at her with his big smile.

_"Hello Marie, I took notice of you today. You must be new here?" Double D said. _

_"I sure am. We just moved here. You must be Double D?" Marie asked him. _

_"Why yes, that is my nickname." Double D responded. _

_"You know, I think you're really cute." Marie said, blushing. _

_"Oh, well, I do indeed send my gratitudes to you for saying that." Double D said, blushing himself. "And might I say I think you are a really special female." _

_"Oh, come on!" Marie said, digging her foot in the ground. _

_"No, really. I do mean that in all sincerity." Double D said. _

_"You know, I really, really like you." Marie said. _

_"Oh," Double D said, moving closer to her, "I really, really like you also." he said, beaming with a smile. _

_"Well then, let's just see how much." Marie said as she leaned in closer. The two leaned in, and leaned in, until they both embraced and shared a very passionate kiss. Both of their eyes were closed, and they just communicated with their lips. _

Marie just laid there on the couch, fully engulfed into her nice, romantic dream. She just smiled in her sleep, knowing that even though it was a dream, she could still taste his lips.

_Dream..._

_Dream, dream, dream, _

_Dream..._

_Dream, dream, dream, _

_When I want you, in my arms. _

_When I want you, and all your charms, _

_whenever I want you, _

_all I have to do, _

_is dream..._

_dream, dream, dream,_

_when I feel blue, _

_in the night, _

_and I need you, _

_to hold me tight, _

_whenever I want you, _

_all I have to do, _

_is dream..._

_I can make you mine, _

_taste your lips of wine, _

_anytime, night or day. _

_Only trouble is, gee whiz_

_I'm dreamin' my life away..._

_I need you so, that I could die, _

_I love you so, and that is why, _

_whenever I want you, _

_all I have to do, _

_is dream..._

_dream, dream, dream, _

_dream..._


	54. Chapter LIV

Chapter LIV

The next morning, Marie turned her head and saw the sunlight streaming through the trailer window. She turned her head around, and rubbed her eyes with her hands. She had no idea of what time it was, but if she had to guess, she would say probably around 8 o'clock or so. Either way, it was still mid-morning, and she had slept better that night than she had for a while. She didn't know exactly why though. She couldn't quite touch her finger to it. Whatever it was, it had touched her eyes and caused her to gain the much need rest she had deprived of for years. She didn't know what it was, for she had never felt it before. But if thought were indeed to cross her mind, it would be that it was the proverbial sandman that had done it. Of course that sand man being Double D, and the image of him was the only thing that would be the differnce between depression and happiness. He was that moving factor. That thing that made her think twice. A mental and emotional double take if you will. Something that made her step back mentally and look at the situation that was before her hands. That thing, of course, was love, real love.

As she turned her head, she looked up at the picure that she had drawn and smiled, just imagining that that would be a great reality soon. A reality beyond her position. But she noticed something different. Above and below her pictures were two other drawings. One was of May and Ed standing together, which was overtop of Maire's, and one was of Lee and Eddy, in wedding apperal, that was bellow Marie's. They were both pretty much done in the same style of Marie's however, both had their on unique style to them.

Marie didn't know quite what to think of them. She was sort of happy in way for her sisters, for they too liked their Eds, but Marie didn't fell that they truly felt "love" like she did for Double D. For she truly was held captive over her passion for Double D. It was much more than just a simple liking. A preference. It was a bond. It was a connection.

And Marie felt that the reason that she had rarely had happiness in this world is because he had not been with her half. That half of course being Double D. Truly her soul didn't feel whole. It was missing something. It was missing that other half. The complimentary half. The peanut butter to the jelly, the bread to the butter, the milk to the cookie, the Jerry Lewis to the Dean Martin. Is it not true that all those things can do well just on their own, for the most part? Surely, but when they are coupled together, when they are put back together, they are unstoppable duos that, once reflected upon, are realized that together, no one can really thing of them as induvidual things anymore. They become that systematic pair. And it almost becomes cliche to always picture them together. It is a natural way of imaging. If things so naturally go together, so wonderfully pair together, could we not just assume that the peanut butter was meant for the jelly, the milk to the cookie? Why can't we too assume that Double D and Marie are too just the same dynamic duo, that, together truly compliment each other so well, that no one should try to deny it? Certainly is destiny is true, they both do belong together. They are simpatico. They are two halfs, looking for the other.

Getting up, she wiped her eyes, which had been built up with so many dried tears that she could hardly see out of them. Almost like they were glued shut. She didn't see any signs of Lee or May anwhere. Getting up even more, she sat on the edge of the sofa and let out a large yawn as she stood up, stretching her arms out as she did.

She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a stick of gum, placing it delicately on her tounge as she started chewing. She blew a couple of bubbles as she walked over to the door of the trailer and opened it up. She saw Lee and May, with the set of binoculars that Marie had been using yesterday. They were looking intently, and giggling as they whispered to each other.

"What's goin' on?" Marie asked as she stepped down from the stoop leading up to the trailer and walked over to her sisters.

"Oh, Marie, you gotta come check this out!" Lee said, just talking to Marie, and not taking her eyes from the binoculars.

"Okay Lee, you've had enough, let me see!" May said, ripping the binoculars from Lee's hands.

"Geez May, you ain't gotta be so greedy with em." Lee said, crossing her arms.

"Ahhhh..." May said, looking through the binoculars, eyeing something that was in the woods.

"What is it?" Marie asked, walking down to see the commotion.

"It's those guys you talked about yesterday. Yours is down there too." Lee said, pointing into the woods.

"Double D?" Marie asked herself in her mind. She was taken away, as Cupid had sent a direct hit to her heart. She was filled with amorous thoughts as she practically floated over to the hill side of the trailer park. She, for her own reasons, didn't want to let May and Lee on to the fact that she was in love with Double D. Something like that could very well set Lee off like a Roman Candle, being as how Lee hardly believed in such thing as love. It was almost a non-existent entity to her. Certainly not worthy of discussion. Marie figured that the only reason was after Eddy was surely just for another person to bully. And May, well, Marie couldn't vouch for May. May was far too childish and inmature to know of true love ways like Marie did. May wasn't capable of the soul searching and deep thought that Marie was. In short, Marie had thought her feelings through on more than one level. She had gone beyond the natural, and into the supernatural, the spiritual. That was how deep she felt the connection was for her and Double D. For some reason, she just didn't want them either to know.

Marie looked down into the woods, and without the need for the binoculars, she saw the small shape, the image of the guy she loved. They were walking up to a spider web in the woods, the very big one between two big trees. Marie slid down into the woods, and hid behind a tree so she could get a closer look at her man. Lee and May followed her, and hid behind some trees as well.

"...it's a masterpiece of nature!" Double D said as he gazed at the giant spider web.

"Looks like my grandmother's hairnet." Eddy said. "Huh, well, let's go guys..."

Marie nearly passed out with excitement at the sound of her love's voice. It was even more angelic and heavenly than she had thought.

Ed had now jumped up to the spider web, and was bouncing up and down on it.

"Your disturbing the eco-enviornment!" Double D said to Ed, who was still bouncing on the web.

Marie still hid behind the tree, and giggled as she heard Double D yet again utter another one of is eco-babble sentences.

She conitnued to giggle as she thought in her mind, "He is too cute."

Lee and May just looked on, not necesarrily with love like Marie, but with more bully like ambitions, especially Lee. They all started giggling as Lee and May started chanting "Ed, Edd, n Eddy, sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g." Marie thought they were being too lambatious for her taste, and Marie simple sat behind the tree, thinking of Double D.

The other two coninued to chant as they started moving about the forest. They went and got in a dark space behind some bushes and stared at the Eds. Lee made a "come over here" motion with her arm to Marie, who was still crouching behind the tree. Marie was very shy and reluctent, not to mention trying to mask her feelings for Double D at the same time to her sisters. But, she came over just to appease her sisters, who were still chanting. Marie felt it would better conceal her love if she joined in with them. And she did.

Eventually Ed, Edd, n Eddy ran so far that they feel into a deep mud puddle. They were screaming for help, still not really knowing what or who was chasing them. they screamed even louder, when Lee and May jumped out, and Marie silently waltzed out as well, still very nervous to look Double D in the eye. She avoided eye contact at all costs, making the encounter very odd for her. The three Ed's screamed for mercy. Double D looked at Marie, with a certain look. Of course he knew in his mind that this girl was somehow different from the rest, and was more, if not only, scared from the shock, not from her. All three Eds passed out with fear, and just fell backwards into the puddle.

"Alright girls, let's round em up." Lee said, as the three pulled their Eds out of the slunking mud puddle. Marie nearly died of happiness as she grabbed Double D around the chest and pulled him out. She was finally "in his arms", and a just, well, to not be too brash about it, was as dreamy a face as one could possibly make. Of course, Lee or May didn't notice, for they were too busy horsing around. Lee just slung Eddy over her shoulder, carrying him like a heavy bag of dog food. And May just dragged Ed behind her by the shoe. Marie carried Double D in her arms, and even though his eyes were closed, she peered into his eyelids, for she knew that just behind them were two oceans of love, waiting for her to splash in.

As soon as they got back to the trailer, Marie, Lee, and May brought the Eds into the trailer and laid them down on the floor in the living room.

"Well, better get them, 'cleaned up'." Lee said as she giggled. May giggled along with her, but Marie just blushed with embarassment.

Lee ripped the clothes, underwear and all, off of Eddy, and just played coy with him. Marie looked on with disgust, almost wanted to hurl all over the carpet. May didn't know what quite to do, so she just copied what Lee was doing. May, afterall, was just Lee's little lapdog.

Marie treated Double D with much more modesty, and simply, and gentlely, slipped his shirt, pants, and shoes and socks off, leaving him in his underwear. She respected his privacy, and didn't feel she had to lower herself to Lee, and subsequently May's level. She took and bundled his clothes up and put them beside her as she was going to wash them. Lee picked up all the clothes and threw them on May.

"Get these things clean May, you don't do anything anyway." Lee said. She then bent down into Eddy's face, who was still asleep. "See ya Eddy." she said as she let out a creepy laught and walked out of the room. Marie took and looked at Double D, who was till asleep as well. She could help but just stand there with the dreamiest expression on her face.

"I've got to do something." Marie said, because Double D's hair and face where still quite dirty. She picked him up by the chest again and brought him into the bathroom. She closed the door and postioned his hed into the bath tub. She took and wetted a wash cloth, and washed off his face and scrubbed his hair down good. Up under his hat, she didn't notice anything but a mess of thick, black hair.

She was careful not to wake him. For she was quite scared that she would. And once she went to rinse his hair out, he stirred a little. His eyes opened slowly, and Marie then squirmed a little, scared that he would run off. She knelt there, bitting onto her bottom lip, scared to death. Double D simply looked into her eyes and smiled at her. Marie didn't know what the difference between dream and reality was. She literally pinched herself, just to make sure. After realizing all this was happening, she looked into his eyes and said "I'm not gonna hurt you." and smiled back at him.

Double D was still half-asleep, but in his head his thoughts were racing. He could feel something deep down, though he couldn't pinpoint what it was. He knew it was something though. He knew it was.

Marie had to fight back a lot, because she was basically on the verge of crying. She could feel a tear struggling to come out. She couldn't help it, and bent down and gave him a quick peck on the check. She didn't want to make it too akwkard.

Double D simply put his hand to his cheeck, and his eyes simply drifted to the back of his head, as his eyes closed again. He went back into his slumber, and Marie finished cleaning up his head and dryed it all off with a towel. She quickly put his hat on again, and looked back at his peaceful, clean face. She rubbed her hand against his cheeck, the very one she had kissed.

She put her biological, though unknown, father's bathrobe on his and brought him back down the stairs and laid him back on the floor. She looked to make sure no one was in the room, and she looked down at him with her dreamy face and blew him several kisses. The words "I love you, Double D." were mouthed from her lips, though not spoken verbally.

And those words were gold, jack.


	55. Chapter LV

chapter LV

As she looked, Lee and May walked back into the house.

"Ah, now see May, Marie here has a good idea. Make yourself useful and go upstairs, and get those other two bathrobes, will ya?" Lee commanded May, as May ran up the stairs and grabbed the bathrobes very quickly, running back down with them. Her and Lee put their bathrobes on Ed and Eddy, respectively. They then stood there, looking at the Eds.

Marie was still looking at Double D. She just couldn't get his image out her head. Everytime she closed her eyes, he was there. Everytime she closed her eyes, she could only see his open eyes, looking at her with a dreamy look and smile. This would come to be normal to her, but she almost didn't know what to think of it as per the moment.

Ed, Eddy, and Edd all lied there, still sleeping. But as the sisters continued to look at them, their eyes started to open once more. Marie liked to have died when see saw Double D's eyes once more. They pierced her soul and filled her heart with only good things. She had never had good things fill her heart, so of course she welcomed them with all she could.

"Hey Eds, so happy you dropped in!" Lee said, looking at them all lying on the floor.

The Eds just looked back up at the sisters. They all had shocked faces, but for different reasons. Ed looked with terror for he had no use for girls or their germs. Eddy looked with fear, and a little annoyance, as he just saw this as a bump in his road to another scam. And Double D looked with an almost fright, for May was looking at him, and she was not the same angel that had peered into his soul earlier in the bathroom. No, this was a completely differnent girl all together.

"Hope you like our dads' robes..." Marie said, finger-gun pointing at the fact that all three of them bore the robes of the Kanker's biological fathers. Ed had on Rod's, Eddy had on Butch's, and Double D had on Bubba's.

The Eds looked down and noticed the robes and scratched at them, realizing that they had been stripped of their original clothing. Ed and Eddy looked with other shock, but Double D, he felt a little different. An image flashed back to him. The nice girl, the bathtub, the peck on the cheeck, the smile he had given. The girl of his dreams looking right into his eyes, stabbing his soul like the proverbial excalibur through the rock. Something that was impossible to remove, no matter how hard anyone tried. Marie was like the King Arthur, the only one able to successfully handle it.

The three Kanker's bent down to kiss the Eds. Ed of course was still under the impression that girls had cuties. Eddy just plain out didn't want a kiss from Lee, and Double D was angry that the girl in front of him was not the same girl who had looked into his eyes earlier. It was May, and he wanted to look and the same girls again. That girl being Marie.

They flinched back against the wall. Marie was quite bitter that May was hogging the air around her boyfriend, and if she had not wanted to make such a lasting impression on Double D, she would have socked May right there in front of God and everybody.

"This is not good..." Double D said, because he feared that May was going to make moves on him, and not the girl that had done it before. Not Marie. He wanted Marie, not her. He just looked at her with a perverse anger, something that Double D was incapable of showing in a normal fashion, so his expression was more that of fear than of anything.

"I'm May Kanker." May said, blowing a raspberry.

"I'm Marie Kanker..." Marie said, blowing her gum bubble out and popping it. She still had her eyes on Double D, just about passing out inside from actually introducing herself to the love of her life.

"And I'm Lee Kanker, we're the Kanker sisters. We just moved in, ha huh." Lee said, gazing into Eddy's eyes.

"I'm Eddy" Eddy said.

"I'm Ed." Ed said.

"And I'm..." Double D started, as he couldn't take his angry/nervous eyes off of May. He just wanted to look straight at Marie.

"We know, Double D." Marie said, pointing her finger at Double D, "don't you worry about that!" her heart nearly busted out of her chest. She had finally had a conversation with him.

Then it hit Double D harder than Michael Moore hits McDonalds for lunch. The girl that had just talked to him, the one who had just made a conversation with him, was that girl. She was the girl. He still looked at May, wondering why she was still here.

"Do you girls know where our clothes are?" Eddy asked.

"Oh, they're dryin' outside." Lee responded. "You boys sure were dirty."

"We're gonna pop into the kitchen for a bit boys, and fix up some home cookin' for ya." Lee continued as the three girls got up and headed for the kitchen.

"We'll be right back..." Marie said, as they turned around and ran for the kitchen.

It then solidified into Double D's brain. He was very smart, and could figure these things out pretty easy. It didn't take long to put two and two together. The voice that came out of the girl's mouth was that of the soft words that the angel spoke to Double D. This was the angel. This was Marie. His heart and been GPS tracked and locked on by Cupid's arrow, and he had fallen deep into the feelings that immediately came over him. He didn't know how to feel when they came over him. He felt very bizzare and encapsulated into Marie's beautiful eyes and enchanting voice. She was the angel. His angel. His Marie. He felt very awkward around his friends now, as he had to get home and scream it to the world, though he was scared to spill his guts to his best friends, as they might take him for a crazy nut that had done way too many two way trips above the cuckoo's nest. He had to go home, and proclaim his feelings with in the confines of his room. He had to do it. He had to.

"This is very strange, let's go!" Double D said, for he just couldn't wait any longer. He couldn't hold on to that feeling any longer. But the strangeness he mentioned was of his own emotions, as he felt his stomach flap and his heart pound. Feelings he had never felt were suddenly animated with in him.

"Hold it Double D..." Eddy told him, "where's your manners? They're new here, and they said they were gonna make up some food, didn't they? So why don't we just hang out for a bit, eat for free, and then we can split."

Double D looked at him with a very unappreciative face at his last statement. He didn't much care for the way the Eddy was completely disregarding the hospitallity of his angel. He wanted to take and slap Eddy Sgt. Hartman style, but restrained himself.

"Come on, let's check this place out." Eddy said, as they began walking about.

"Where exactly are we?" Double D asked, as he was now unable to tell his dreams from his reality. He had to make sure he was still with in the real world.

"Hmm, looks like a postcard I sent my brother once..." Eddy said as he looked out the window.

Obviously, Ed went to the TV first, as that was his tractor beam of choice. And of course, being the academic he is, Double D gravitated toward the bookshelf.

"Interesting, Hub Cap Digest." Double D said as he picked up the book off the shelf. He opened it up and looked at a few pages.

"This book has no print, these pages are blank!" he exclaimed as he looked into the book. In all truth, the book was not really blank. It was filled with wonderful information and reference material on hub caps, an art form that has been leaving cars on bricks since 1924. But Double D could not see the print, he could only see images of Marie, over and over. Her words filled his head, her image filled his eyes. She could not escape him.

"Hahaha, look, artwork..." Eddy said as he pointed to the pictures on the wall. They were of course the drawings. Eddy's voice was the only thing that pulled Double D from his trance of Marie. He looked up at the wall.

"Hahaha, Ed and me, how cute..." Eddy said, looking at the drawing of Ed and May.

"Is that me?" Double D asked, spying the picture of him and Marie.

All of a sudden Double D had an out of body moment. He flushed out of himself and looked down to see he and Marie together, hand in hand, in the picture. He couldn't feel anything but relief, that his equestrian sub-pysche inter-thoughts were absolutely 100% true. He and Marie. Meant to be.

Eddy glanced down at the last picture.

"What the,...hey,...that's not funny!" Eddy said, as he was feeling a strong dark humour moment. It was possibly the inner Al Bundy inside him. He was just dying to say "No Ma'am!" and do the gun point to his head.

"Okay boys, come and get some ice cold delisious powdered milk..." Marie said as she touted the milk into the room, and laid it on a folding TV table.

Double D turned to Marie, and looked at her, as she turned and her hair sifted back as she headed back into the kitchen. As Ed and Eddy quickly just walked up to the table, Double D lingered, being outside himself once more and thinking of only Marie. He shook his head out of his sub-psyche mind trip and uttered, "Thank you, thank you very much." as he slowly walked up to the table. He thought he was too silly, uttering an Elvis quote to his dream girl. But that was all he could think of at the time. The boys started drinking the powdered milk and hacking up dust, the same way a mummy hacks up his phlegm. (Ba dum tss. Oh come on, you know that if there was a crowd they'd be goin' wild!)

Double D returned his eyes to Marie, and that expression came over his face again as she bent over. I don't care to mention where his mind was, but let's just say that it slid off the shingles. When he did so, he nearly choked on his powdered milk, and doubled over coughing.

"How about a video?" Marie said, slipping one into the VCR (don't worry kids, I can actually remember them). "Fish bowl II, a ca-lassic." Marie said, stepping away from the screen.

Double D's inner man set in, and he floated with Ed and Eddy to the couch, the batmobile of all men out there. There is a mental snippet of Adam West saying, "to the sofa!" that plays in all our minds when the time comes. Believe me, it's a nice feeling.

The girls were all gathered in the kitchen trying to concoct something.

"It's so nice to have to boys home..." Marie said, dreamy of Double D.

"Hey, I'm doin' the fishsticks!" May said as she greedily grabbed the box out of Marie's hands. She had learned too many bully traits from Lee.

"Then give me the squeeze-a-log!" Marie argued, ripping the log of processed cheese product that was probably produced by muntant molemen from the 5th deminison, with the same stuff they make school glue and whatever the hell it is they put inbetween the Knabb crackers you get in the vending machines. That, plus magic.

"Girls! Shut up!" Lee said, breaking up their fight. "We've got lunch to make..." she said as she grapped a container of lard, which, unbeknowest to the general population, is actually healthier for you than all vegetable shortnings and butter, and hydrogentated vegetable spread that I wouldn't spread on the end piece of stale bread. Talk about unhealty...

"The way through a man's heart is through his arteries..." Lee said as she through the lard on the burgers, "and the Kanker secret sauce, ketchup!" as she poured what looked like an international standard barrel unit of the tomato sauce on top of everything else.

"Dinner's ready..." the three girls chanted as they wheeled in the burgers.

The boys heard Adam West call again, and they grabbed their meals and began devouring them.

"Ahhhh, they're so dreamy..." the girls uttered, watching the boys inhale their meals.

The sisters then started to head up the stairs to their room.

"Be back in a minute boys..." May said.

"Yeah, we're gonna go and freshen up..." Lee said, as the three of them sighed and strolled up the stairs.

The boys continued to devouer their meals, as they thrice found unique things with their burgers.

The girls waltzed back down the stairs and said, "We're baaaack." More like Ed MacManon, and less like Poltergiest. They had all changed into more "formal" attire. When in fact they dressed in clothes that even the Fonz would say "heeeey" to.

"Notice anything new, Eddy?" Marie asked. Now, one can take and examine this in a way that would consitute that Marie is liking Eddy. When in fact this is not the case at all. Marie is simply testing her approach out on Eddy first, because she didn't feel nervous around him like she did Double D.

Eddy simply just ate his food, paying about as much attention to her as Donald Trump does his hair, or the raccoon that sacrificed itself on the courage to rip his comb over to shreds. It died in the attempt, and resides there today. A moment of silence...

Marie simply moved on, now offically to Double D.

"The finest in processed products...only the best for you." Lee said as she snuggled up to Eddy. The line was almost so cliched, that one would expect a booming voice to say "BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!"

"Hey, how about a refill on that powdered milk stuff?" Eddy said, pushing the glass toward her.

"Do you like our Kanker burger, Big Ed?" May asked Ed, as she slid her arm around him.

"Oh, yeah, it's good!" Ed said, with his mouth full of food. Obvioulsy he has no bed-side manners about him.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, mister!" May scolded him.

Marie was behind the couch, looking at Double D with a most amorous look. She couldn't help but examine his inner mystery. She found it, well, mystifying about him. "Alright Marie, here's the big chance!" she told herself in her thoughts, "don't blow it, cause if you do, you'll never forgive yourself."

She picked up a pillow and attempted to position it behind his back, to make him feel as comfortable as she thought he should be.

But when she did, he violently reacted, almost as if someone had given him the worst wedgie ever (I'm not talkin' atomic here, I talkin' domino effect, nuclear holocaust wedgie) as he pulled the elastic piece of meat back and it hit him in the face. Marie responded quite quickly, scared, because she knew she had done too much, and probably upset him.

"Please refrain from touching me when I'm eating, thank you." Double D said, so involved in the food that he didn't realize what he had said and who he said it to.

"Hmph, I'll touch you whenever I want, buddy boy!" Marie said as she tapped him on the head. She also didn't think about when she said it, and would take back the words if she could.

"Uh, is there a problem?" Double D asked, again not thinking about his words.

"Everything's fine!" the girls said with the most sarcasm since the day Ray Romano was born.

The girls then went on their Rosie the Rivetter arm and hammer tirade about female underappreciation.

They then forced the boys to clean the trailer spotless. After a bunch of ruining events, Eddy just couldn't take it. He pulled a Peter Finch _I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!_ and said "That's enough!"

The girls started to tear up. And ran into their room, slamming the door. They sat on the edge of the bed, crying.

"Us girls have got to get ourselves together!" May said.

Marie just sat there, looking at the ground. She thought about how brash Eddy had been, and how sweet Double D had been. She hoped that he didn't hate her.

As the boys peeked their heads in, May scolded them to never come back.

"Well, you heard her, let's go." Eddy said, as he pointed to the door.

"This has been quite educational." Double D said, of course using an aliby. But, in a way, it had been educational for him. For he had learned of his love for Marie.

As they went out the door. they saw the three sisters, in face make up and hair-rollers.

"Just a minute there." May said, as she pulled out an Eddy doll. "What about Eddy junior?"

"And Ed junior..." Lee said as she held up an Ed doll.

"And don't forget Double D junior..." May said, as Marie pulled out the Double D doll. Marie was very angry at both her sisters, and her anger showed. She was mad because Marie had meant for the Double D doll to be a special, secret gift for Double D after she confessed her love to him.

The boys were shocked and startled, and ran off screaming. Double D with more emotions than anything.

The girls all gave their contempts, and their words of love.

As Double D ran, he ran straight for his house. He had to take a step back, reasses his situation, and truly take in his feelings.

He was in love, there is no easy way to put that.


	56. Chapter LVI

Songs used in this chapter:

watch?v=KKcCaCgMLBE&feature=related

watch?v=Mtvl8IbX434

Chapter LVI

Double D went into his room and shut his door. His thoughts were else where. Though he didn't know exactly where. What had just happened to him? What had just come over him? What was that strange feeling that he had felt in the trailer back there? Who was that girl? Who was she? Was she an angel? Yes, an angel. An angel sent for him. An angel that had been sent for him only.

But what would his friends think of him? Would he be able to confront them with his feelings? Of course not. Eddy was not the person for emotions. In fact, Double D had it solidified in his head that Eddy was just one big selfish person, who lacked any capabilities for real human emotion. Eddy was cold, unpleasant, and overall just a fairly horrible person with only a couple things on his mind at a time. And Ed, oh Ed. Ed hade as much emotion as a stone has life. He was probably the most emotionless person Double D knew. Sure, he had boughts of happiness. He had frantic boughts of sadness. But Ed didn't understand how emotions and feelings worked. Therefore, being the my way or highway person Ed is, he just disregarded most emotions, and only utilyzing the most basic and essential emotions: happiness and sadness. Comedy, and tragedy. Two very polarizing opposites. They were the only things that Ed could completely understand. Therefore the only emotions he could manage to show.

But Double D was different. Even though no one would have thought it, Double D was the only one of his friends that carried any emtional weight to him. He was the only one that could actually possess feelings. And they affected his judgement more than often, and that was probably the best for his friends. For he often possessed the feelings necesarry to help his buddies out, to help others out, to help all those people who usually would just make fun of him on any given Sunday.

But Double D had an amazing feeling of empathy. He could place himself in the place of others, and feel the pain they felt. More often than not, he could relate to the pain they felt.

Double D could feel her loneliness. If Double D had felt anything in his life, in was the feeling of being lonely. All his life, he has practically been on his own. If not for his two friends, he would have absolutely no one. And even they treated him like a doormat most of the time, taking advantage of him all the time. They didn't appreciate him. They only used him. He often questioned to himself why he had hung around Ed and Eddy all those years, if all they had done is insult him, abuse his trust, and take advantage of his greater intelligence. But even in the midst of all their differences, all their struggles, Double D still saw them as friends. He saw them as at least companions, and even though he did hold certain, shall we say, opinions about both of them, he still sought after them when he had nothing else. He still saw them as decent friends.

He also thought of his parents. He was certain that they cared for him. But with their careers, they hardly ever got to see him. That made him feel like they didn't care for him. Like they didn't want to see him. Even though that was not the truth. His mother and father cared much for him. He was their only child, and they only wanted what was best for him. They provided him with everything he needed, wanted. They showed him love in the only way they knew possible. They deep down cared about him more than anything. Both that is difficult to convince to an almost teeny-bopper. No kid in their right mind truly thinks their parents care about them. And the one that do typically dwell in the basements, sniffing glue well into their thrities.

His parents just didn't know how to express love or other feelings. Both of them were pretty boring squares for the most part, neither of them really enjoyed proclaiming feelings or anything of the sort. In fact, it is a wonder that the two of them actually felt enough feelings at one point to actually marry. It was hard to imagine, really.

Double D had always been a lot more sensitive than his peers. He could always see things in a much more different light than his friends. Maybe that's why he was always the one helping them out of jams and assisting them out of danger. He was the only intelligent voice compared to his two slackjawed counter parts. The only voice of reason. He was the Larry to Ed's Curly and Eddy's Moe.

Yet, even with some great friends, Double D was lonesome. He had a void in his heart that not even friends could fill. He had a void that only the love of his life could fill. That hole seemed to deepen and deepen as Double D went through his childhood, never thinking that he would be able to meet this demand. Then, almost by destiny, he runs into Marie, who not only was the smoking hottest girl he had ever seen, was that very person he had searched for. All his life, he just wanted one thing. He had all the possessions he could ever want. But possessions didn't mean squat to him. He just wanted someone to love him. For possessions are nothing. Through greed, nothing is gained. Through love, all things are gained.

Double D was lonely, and his lonely heart cried out to his long searched lover. He didn't know how, but he had found her. And he wanted her.

_I'm just a lonely boy, _

_Lonely and blue, _

_I'm all alone, _

_With nothin' to do. _

_I've got everything, _

_you could think of, _

_But all I want, _

_is someone to love. _

_Someone, yes someone to love. _

_Someone to kiss. _

_Someone to hold, _

_at a moment like this. _

_I'd like to hear, _

_somebody say,_

_I'll give you my love, _

_each night and day. _

_I'm just a lonely boy, _

_lonely and blue. _

_I'm all alone, _

_with nothin' to do. _

_I've got everything, _

_you can think of. _

_But all I want, _

_is someone to love. _

_Somebody! Somebody! Somebody please! _

_Send her to me! _

_I'll make her happy, _

_just wait and see..._

Double D had to capitalize on this. He had to make a run with this while he could. If he were to let this get away, he would be letting his future get away. His life get away. His love get away. He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't let Marie escape from his closing grasp. He could feel the love flowing, the heart pumping, the brain hurting. He had to lie down to think it over for a little bit.

Outside, the sun was dipping below the leveled out horizion filled with the houses of the cul-de-sac. Just as the night before, cirrus clouds whipped in and out of the light that shinned down from the midnight blue sky. The ring around the moon illuminated the light, thin clouds that didn't engulf it, but complimented it. It wasn't you're typical summer moon. It was more like a winter moon. In the midst, there is peace, and where there is peace, there is understanding.

And where there is understanding, there is love.

Double D was now laying on his bed, never mind the time. However, it was about 9 o'clock, give or take. The sky was now pure darkness, all except the moon that cast its light down onto the quiet, low laying cul-de-sac. That very light went through Double D's window, and onto his bed, the scattered sillouettes of the drapes displayed across him.

He layed there, his arms folded over each other on top of him. His legs also laid over each other in a similar fashion. He was not tired at all. His eyes did not quiver one bit. They were wide open, almost as though he didn't feel a shred of fatigue at all. But he didn't. None whatsoever. He couldn't find reason enough to sleep. His brain was working overtime, and his thoughts were elsewhere. He had a plan. He had a goal. His heart was there, and only there.

He starred into the blank ceiling above him. The white paint reflected back to him many different things. Some good, some bad. However, his eyes never left the ceiling. His brain never passed a thought over it. His mind wandered, his thoughts lingered, everything was working in reverse and forward at the same time. He didn't know what quite to make of it.

He continued to look into the ceiling. He looked for a while, as his brain started to become more and more focused. He looked beyond the latex paint. Beyond the roller strokes left from when it had been painted years ago. Beyond the gypsum laiden sheet rock. Beyond the plywood boarding. Beyond the shingles. He looked beyond even the summer sky itself.

All he could see,  
was the image of Marie.  
He could see her gentle face.  
Feel her warm embrace.  
Every single trace, led to her.  
Although it may seem,  
far too simply schemed,  
he looked beyond her very soul...  
And just as he knew, their love would be true.  
His heart, his heart she had stole...  
He stared into her deep pale eyes,  
she truly was his special prize.  
At him, she sent a grin.  
He knew it was no sin,  
No sin to lover her so,  
His heart, his herat she had stole...

He could doubt it no longer. She was more than just love. She was more than just intensity. She was his destiny.

_You,...are...my destiny. _

_You are, what you are to me. _

_You are my happiness,..._

_That's what,...you are..._

_You are my sweet caress, _

_You share my lonliness. _

_You are my dream come true..._

_That's what, you are..._

_Heaven, and heaven alone..._

_Can take your love, from me..._

_Cause I'd be a fool _

_To ever leave you dear, _

_And a fool I'd never be..._

_You are my destiny..._

_You share my revery._

_You're more than life to me._

_That's what you are..._

_You are my destiny..._

_You share my revery._

_You're more than happiness..._

_That's what..._

_you..are..._


	57. Chapter LVII

Song at the end of the chapter:

watch?v=oIdwRxf0W_U

Chapter LVII

Double D still laid on his bed, looking up at the ceiling up above him. He saw Marie, helooked into her eyes. He could have had an entire conversation with her, right there. Her eyes did all the talking, and his soul did all the answering. His brain was on auto-pilot, as his visions of her continued to paint the white spatch of ceiling above him. He had hardly known her one day, yet he could already feel that bond. That more-than-real connection.

He saw Marie as different. He saw her as unique. He noticed right away that she was different. She looked different. She acted different. She talked different. Everything was different about her in every way. She wasn't like her sisters. She had willingly approached him. She had tried to comfort him, to make him feel special. She had tried in every way to be nice to him. But why? Why had she been so nice to him? Why had she spoken so softly to him? Why had she been so nervous to approach him? Was it all circumstantial, or did it really mean something? It had to. It had to mean something. Things like this don't just happen by chance. If there is no meaning behind things, why do they happen. I don't mean to get off on a rant, but with all this talk of love at first sight, can it really exist. This guys says yes. It most certainly does. And it happens for more meaning than possibly most other forms of love. Love at first sight is not lust at first sight like so many people seem to indicate. Lust implies a sexual desire. And while that can indeed happen to a person, it doesn't have to. Now, going under the assumption here that true love is born with a person, and there is just one love for them, this would indicate that the love for somebody already exists with in a person. They already have it with in them. They just have to spend the time, and a great deal of patience to figure out who it is, and more importantly, if they too have discovered the same love. If they too have felt that they feel the same love. And this author for one truly feels that within us all resides that inner muse, calling to us all when we eventually stumble onto that one person. But could it really be? Certainly it can. It can always be. That is the beauty of love: it will always be. Now, you may ask yourselves, 'I am in the middle of reading this love-babble filled narrative, how am I to conjure up the possibilities this author is getting at? Certainly he holds the answers.' Well, you would be correct in assuming that. I am the author. But that doesn't monopolize the possiblities for a reader to conjure up theories to the unexplainable. I am just one person, you are just one person. Double D is just one person. Marie is just one person. How are any of us to give a definite answer to this puzzling question? Well, that is an interesting question. We each have to look into our induvidual souls, and find that answer for ourselves. I can't tell you the right answer, and you can't tell me the right answer either. No one can tell Double D or Marie the right answer. They have to find it themselves as well. Questions are just anwers, answers that have been re-worded to find an explaination. No question is a stupid question. Though, some do warrent justingly stupid answers. Love requires more than just a boy and a girl. Love requires more than just a simple pairing. If it were truly that simple, why would I be typing out this long narrative? No, it's not just filler. Believe me, three pots of coffee later, filler becomes just more vacant space. Filler is for cheap hot dogs and $20 pressboard nighstands you get at walmart for practically nothing. Not love. Filler is not for love. So, what is love then, you may ask. What's the definition? Well, I'm afraid I can't answer that for you. To be rather blunt, love is the definition. What! Love, the definition? How can you have a definiton if you don't have a definition for the definition? Putting it simply, love is the dictionary for the human soul. Everything we need to know about it, everything we need to find out about it, can all be found in love. Love is the answer to all problems. Love can heal all wounds. You may say that love makes those wouldns as well. You would be wrong. Wounds are only made to two lovers if they lose their faith in love. Once that is lost, the proverbial shield is taken down. Love is just love, it doesn't require any real further explanation than that. After all, if we could explain the unexplainable, would they still be the unexplainable?

Just my opinion. I could be wrong. But that is as much as I've ever bet on a coin toss.

Double D simply got up and sat on the edge of the bed. He felt the Atlas-esque feel, and his shoulders were barred down with the weight of his own descisions. What would he chose to do? Would he go in and simply sweep her off her feet? After a pondering moment, Double D rejected the idea. Only fools rush in. A more delicate approach would work best. It would be the deciding factor. Patience was a thing that Double D valued more than most things. He contained an almost unnatural level of patience. It came natural to him. He was already a very calm and mild-tempered person, filled with deep feelings and sub-concious yearnings. So of course in the common chain of events patience was surely something that would come with it.

Marie was in the Kanker bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed, just staring at the wall. She most likely thought the wall was going to do something about the way she felt. But of course it couldn't. She felt utterly drained of any real emotion. Happiness, joy, sadness. It all meant nothing to her. She could only feel the pressure of depression slowly seeping into her brain. If there was any emotion Marie could pull out of her deep psychosis, it would be depression. For truly, she had no real reason to feel anything but depression. She had no one to care about her. No one that loved her. No one to think of her. No one to really care about her existance at all. She felt abandoned by her family, which was the only thing she had. And now, now that she had that one chance with Double D, that one thing to propell her out of this loely and cavascating life, the one she was forced to live, day in, day out. The one she couldn't break free from. She was feeding the beast that killed her. Was this to be the rest of her life? Living in a trailer, working minimum wage jobs, whoring around with half the town because love had desensitized her to the point of simply doubting its very existence? Was this her future? To stay trapped with in this cycle of day in day out self loathing and destroying? Was her life really spiraling into the dark hole of nothingness, as she had so believed. True, she could be acting fairly melodramtic, but she felt it was the only feeling she could pull out of her soul. At least if she was feeling that, she was feeling something.

If one was to search into her eyes, they would see nothing. She could possess no sensery of human emotion. Depression and poured over her like a swarm of locust, tearing and ripping her heart to shreds. Leaving nothing but an empty reminder of what could have been. Her blank stare filled the dark room, only illuminated by a single lamp in the back, and the crisp moonlight that was cast through the window. But no light could penetrate the darkness that went to the very core of her heart.

Out of her blank, blink-less eyes, having no motion whatsoever, a loley tear fell from the edge of her left eye. It fell down and ran down the side of her cheeck, almost as if some one had slowed down the very essence of time just to destroy her emotions somemore. The tear took forever to come down her pale, motionless cheeck. When it curved in its iceberg pace arc, it dangled on the edge of her chin, just begging her to produce more. As that same tear fell to the carpet, she felt the weight lifted. But the weight of the world that she felt on her had not lifted, it fell.

Atlas shrugged.

The tears began falling rapidly. One right after another. Her eyes were like gatling guns of inner emotion, churning out tears as fast as they could. She couldn't really even make a noice notery of sorrow and weeping, for she was breathing so fast and thinking so deeply that she couldn't bring herself to. It just wasn't possible. She couldn't bring herself to words. Words couldn't begin to describe the blackness that had fallen on her. She continued to weep as she got up off the bed. In a swift walking motion, she went to the drawer and pulled out a box cutter, a piece of paper, and another box. She sat down against the wall, right under the window. Her tears created a monsoon of emotion, as she took the piece of paper and started to speak aloud as she wrote.

_To whom it may concern,_

_My life is nothing. A total wash out. I have nothing, and probably never will. He doesn't love me. He probably never will. He hates me just like everyone else. What is life if you don't have one to enjoy? Why go on, when you'll just get nowhere by trying. I am just stopping, before I loose control of everything. Maybe he'll think about me then, we he reads over my obituary..._

As she finished up her note, her tears heavily stained the bordering around the wrinkled piece of linned paper.

As she spoke aloud what she was writting, Double D was standing up under that second story window, listening to every word she uttered. He could not help but feel deeply sympathetic for her, and he had to do something before it was too late. He pulled out a Post-It note pad from his pocket, and a pen, and quickly jotted something down.

As Marie sat there, she inserted a brand new blade in the box cutter, and moved it further and further to her wrist before she saw something coming through her window, and gently floating in the moon light that shown through. It gently cascaded down to her lap, where it restfully landed. Marie ceased her crying. She sniffled as her hand reached out and grabbed this small yellow piece of paper. It was made in the shape of a small paper airplane, and she had to unfold all the creases the be able to read it. In black ink were some words penned down in cursive:

_Marie, please reconsider your actions,_  
_I love you too much for you to go,_  
_I love you more than you'll ever know._

_Signed,_  
_Someone_

Marie read the note three or four times, never mind the number. It penetrated her heart, and something, something had come into her soul and torn off the darkness. The light showed bright, and with in her eyes was light. Her heart was so aglow. The writer she had to know.

She got up and looked straight out the window. She searched in the moonlight, looking for that one person who had changed her life. She saw no one, but she had a pretty good guess who it was. No, it was not just a guess. She did know who it was. It was her own true love.

Double D was still under the window, tight up against the buliding, as to not be seen. After he heard her crying stop he thougt the worse had happened. He bowed his head and mumbled a few phrases, then his head came back up. With attentive ears he heard her moving about, but to make sure that it was her, he went over to the bushes and peered up through the window, to see her. Through it he saw his blue haired angel. He let out a sigh of relief as he laid there, gazing at her beauty. She just sat at her window, her head in her hands, gazing back at him. Neither knew of it though.

Double D tip toed off, hoping that love had done its part and worked on his side.

_In the hours before the morning,_

_Walking home I pass her door._

_And I send a special prayer_

_up to the room on the second floor._

_For my mind is in there with her,_

_but my body takes me home._

_And I need to have a love,_

_because I've been to long alone..._

_So won't you welcome me love..._

_My name is lonely._

_Tell that girls that I think of her only._

_I wanna do it right,_

_so help me light the light in her heart._

_Welcome me love..._

_I know you don't know me._

_Take my hand, there's a lot you can show me._

_I wanna do it right,_

_so help me light the light in her heart._

_I'll try to make her happy,_

_and I promise I'll be good._

_I'll play it by the rules,_

_just like any lover should._

_There'll be times that I will fail her,_

_And we'll let each other down._

_But I'm sure that we can make it,_

_just as long as you're around!_

_So won't you welcome me love,_

_my name is lonely..._

_Tell that girl that I think of her only._

_I wanna do it right,_

_so help me light the light in her heart._

_Welcome me love,_

_I know you don't know me..._

_Take my hand there's a lot you can show me._

_I wanna do it right,_

_so help me light the light in her heart..._


	58. Chapter LVIII

The song at the end of the chapter:

watch?v=7Aph69C8SKg

Chapter LVIII

Double D walked off back to his house after that entire encouter. The fresh, bright moon still shown above him. He was satifyed, but still felt there was more to be desired. How long was this going to go on? How long would he be tormented by these feelings? How long would Marie's graceful eyes engulf his very soul? How long would it be?

As for Marie, she was up in her room, still hugging the small, yellow post it note to her heart. She finally had proof af his affection. It was no longer just inside her mind. It was no longer just fiction to her. It was pure face. 100% fact. These two, these two star-crossed lovers, who had stumbled all their lives, looking for something. But for the longest time, they didn't know what. Neither of them had known. But all that changed at that point. They both knew in their heart of hearts that they were meant for each other. Things like this don't just happen like that. There is a reasoning behid it all. They are simpatico. Heart in heart and hand in hand. Their souls interlocked with each other.

They would go on for two years, masking their love for each other with their peers, and even with themselves. They both knew, they knew far too well. Their reason for keeping that a secret? Their reason for holding back what could have been to the last minute possible, when it seemed like both their lives were systematically spinning in the mud, going nowhere? I couldn't tell you. Your author has never experienced love. But I can tell you this, there is more to it than meets the eye. I can't diagram logic behind it, for love truely cannot embelish logic. Examining Edd and Marie's vibrant relationship so far, I am sure I know about that more than anybody now. Logically, these two are polar opposites. Surely they can't be friends, much less a couple, deeply in love. Well, that is open to interpretation. I certainly can't make that call. But I can assure you, with all my credibility in writing this story, that there is something that burrows beneath all understanding to bring these two together. They both knew it. They both could feel it. It was deep inside them all along. They just hadn't found it yet. But when they did, they just shot off with it, soaring and soaring ever higher. Situations can have a way of getting to the best people, even when they try their hardest. It takes something beyond reality to win agaisnt even those odds.  
That thing is love.

Double D was now back at his house. The time, unimportant, but most likely around three o'clock in the morning. The beauty that had encaptured both Edd and Marie had solidified within them. Both could feel that magic touch. And the English language isn't advanced enough to come up with a way to describe it. Love is without description in my earthly view. For truly, love is something that you can only feel. I have never felt this love that Double D felt, so I cannot truly describe what it is. I am sure most of you have though, and can come to understand the dogmatic flushing and swishing emotions that filled his head. Double D had always been so negative of his life, always so pessemistic, that he would have probably never given love a chance, even if he had tried. Well, be that as it may, he did so here. He felt that wonderful connection. Now, my inner priest is coming out, but I think God truly and surely blessed Double D and Marie's relationship. It had to be. No earthly connection could be that powerful. That wholehearted. That instantanious. It had to come from elsewhere. Take it as you will, but I feel that it did. Come to your own conclusions if you like, that is mine. Love makes even the most dark darkness become the light of the world.  
And that's the memo.

Laying on his bed, Double D could now peacefully rest his head and go into his dreamful sleep. He had every reason to sleep. He had literally saved the life of his future wife. Whoops! did I say wife? Must have been a Freudian slip. Could those possibly have been the words I typed? Surely it was a Freudian slip. Or was it...

Marie also layed on her bed, looking out the very window in which the love had flown. In her heart, she could feel nothing but happiness. The first time in her life she had actually felt happy to be alive. She had overcome her situation, overcome the future she thought was all but unavoidable for her. Now her future was only filled with happiness.

And is it by chance, or possibly not, that exaclty 2 years to that very day in late June, they officially walked in that same moonlight as two lovers, hand in hand. That very night when their love had been proclaimed. That very night when their souls melded from two into one. They had become a couple, but they were not a couple any longer, they were one unit of love. One union of patience and understanding. One unity of love and devotion.

And three months after that very night, and one the exact date, the two sat in Marie's bedroom, looking through the window, at that very same moon. The very same moonlight shinned down on them and filled them with the most amorous feelings and love. They sat on Marie's bed, here in the present day now, after having looked onto to their first days of knowing each other. Memories are just another way of remembering the great things that happened to them. They were hand in hand, looking deeply into each other's eyes, looking into each other's souls. They finally had reached that happiness that both had searched for. They were together, forever and ever.

They say there is something in the water. But I say, there is something in the moon light. That very same moon had shinned down in three differnet points in their relationship. Truly something was in that light, that beam of light that penetrated both of their souls and illuminated the love that was there. Now, whether this is metophorical or not, open to intrepretation. My opinion is just that, an opinion. But look at it in this way: those years, those years that both stumbled around in the dark, looking for that one thing that would change them. That one thing that cured their lonliness, their unhappiness, their depression. And the moonlight was that light that shown down on them. And just as the moonlight strikes through the darkness and scatters light on the very couple sitting on the bed, so did the love penetrate the darkness of their despair and scatter light onto their love. Their love was the phantom meance. The very thing they were searching for, right before their eyes, but the darkness caused by the unhappiness both of them had felt clouded their vision of it. That metophorical moonlight had shone down, and exposed that love to them. They could now see. It was almost like they could always see. Their love was meant to be.

The two sat there, in the darkness of Marie's bedroom, with only the very light from that same moon shinning down on them. Double D couldn't help but notice the shimmer and glimer that bounced off of Marie's left eye, as it shimmered into his. She batted it at him, and he couldn't help but grin as she did so. Their eyes locked into each other, and their love swirled around their soul, as their enchantment pulled them in. Marie again shimmered into Double D's eyes.

"I love you Edd Moore. I love you more than life itself." Marie said, his hands in hers.

"And I love you Marie Kanker, more than you could ever know." Double D replied.

The two leaned in and gripped each other's lips in a passionate kiss. A kiss only reserved for love that is shown through a connection of true love. Their embrace couldn't be tighter. And their feelings couldn't be higher. Their love was proven true, by the light of the high moon.

That very moon shown down on them. Their love was illuminated by its life, and always will be. Always. The moon shines on, as there love always will. The exchanged their passion kiss, as the night was still.

_Yes it's true when they say,_  
_ that when the moon is high _  
_It casts a magic light on lovers_  
_I fell in love with you _  
_on a perfect night in June_  
_And darling I thank the moon_

_While we walked through the park_  
_ the moon was in a cloud_  
_I wanted to cry out loud,_  
_ I love you_  
_Just then the moon appeared_  
_ and two hearts began to spoon _  
_And darling I thank the moon_

_Remember I was afraid and shy_  
_ to tell what was in my heart_  
_Then the moon seemed to say_  
_ you're in love_  
_We kissed and gave love its start..._  
_It's true when they say,_  
_ that when the moon's in sight_  
_It casts a magic light on lovers_

_It made you love me too,_  
_ on a perfect night in June _  
_And darling,..._  
_I thank the moon_  
_I thank the moon..._


	59. Chapter LVIX

Sleepwalk:

watch?v=1st_9KudWB0

Note: The song that appears at the end of this chapter is a doo wop song that I wrote. Since of course you have nothing to base it on, just imagine it as a typical doo-wop with a typical ballad melody. I hope you all like it. I wrote it in about 15 minutes. It is supposed to be sung in a high tenor type falsetto. I hope you all enjoy my song writting.

Chapter LVIX

The moon light started to dim now, as the night was almost turning into morning. Double D and Marie had spent the better part of 3 hours telling their emotion filled accounts of their feelings. They both felt much more educated about a great many things now. Mainly their induvidual feelings pre-relationship. That was something that neither of them had really understood up until now. And up until 2 days and 19 pots of coffee ago, neither did I.

It was almost as if their relationship had taken on a new meaning. It was more intimate now. More personal. Over th course of the summer, they had come to a great deal of understanding. They had found their love, lost it, and found it again. It sure had been one hell of a ride inbtween. Now here they sat, their last night of summer. This Friday night, now Saturday morning. The stars bright, they held each other tight. In the wanning moonlight. The feeling was right. Infact, it was outta sight.

"Double D, there is just so much I didn't know about you. You are so deep, I would have never guessed in a million years that your head is so full of all those things. You truly are a great guy." Marie said, looking at his oval shaped eyes.

"Well Marie, I must admit, I would have never thought in a million years that you were quite that deep as well. I mean, you almost never show your emotional side. I wonder why that is?" Double D asked, also looking into her eyes.

"Well, no one has ever cared about my emotional side. I mean, when you're a poor girl who grows up in a trailer park, the last thing people look at is your heart, if you know what I mean." she said, almost slightly grinning at her statement.

"I don't believe I do." Double D said, not really picking up her little innuendo.

"You mean you don't get it?" Marie asked. She thought that surely Double D would pick up even a slight innuendo. But of course this is Double D we're talking about here. Let's just say that his mental house lacks gutters, or at the very least, he has K-guard gutters.

"Not necesarrily." Double D responded, though he could pick up a little on what she was saying. His mind just didn't work as fast with humor as most other people's does. That probably explains why he's the last person to pick up on a joke, or in this case, a carefully placed innuendo.

"Well," Marie said, patting her hand on his thigh, "have I got a lot to tell you. You see, growing up a pretty girl in any place is always a hassal. Everywhere I go, people whistle, say rude things, all that. I couldn't go out of the trailer door some nights without one of the drunk neighbors whistling at me. It's something that I've always had to deal with."

"All your life?" Double D asked.

"All my life." Marie retorted. She hadn't really examined it that much up until now, but it had been all of her life. Even when she was real young, people would say crude things about her appearnce. There are some sick people out there **cough Jerry Sandusky cough**, that constantly think of things like sex, even with young people. It is a proven mental disorder, and those people that do indeed have it, ruin more lives than they could ever hope to. It takes one sick heart and mind to even think about things like that, and certainly these people contain those sick minds. Most of them in this case being drunk rednecks who live in a trailer park. Maybe that's why Marie had not thought of memories too much before she had started making them with Double D. All the memories pre-Double D were horrible memories. Memories she had tried to supress. Memories she had tried to ignore. Memories that would probably haunt her forever. Now, looking at this in a more Freudian angle, the situation she had been in since infancy is to blame for this. She grew up in an environment she couldn't controll. A mindset that had practically been hammered into her mind from day one. If you hear things repeated over, and over, and over again, you eventually start to believe them. You start to take them as fact. This was no different in Marie. But she was different than her sisters, who just regurgitated the same dogma they had been spoon fed all their lives. Marie wanted to carve her own way, her own path. She didn't want to stuck on some endless loop like a broken record. She wasn't a mindless person. She could think for herself. And she did.

"I'm so sorry Marie." Double D said, placing his hand over hers. He could feel her sympathy. Double D was a very caring person, and he would often go to great lengths to picture himself in someone elses shoes. He felt empathy for almost any person that deserved it. And he felt no one deserved it more than Marie. She had been through so much in her life, overcame so much. All the hate, all the fear, all the depression. For someone to be strong enough to be able to do that, well, they had to be pretty strong. Stonger emotionly especially.

"That's alright Double D, but there's nothing you can do." she said. And truly, he had done everything. But Marie didn't think about it in that light. Double D had been the answer to all her problems. The call to her heart. In fact, had not been for Double D, there is no telling where Marie would be today. Probably being raped by some intoxicated 40 year old hick with more beer bottles than teeth, in the back room of some trailer at the trailer park, and being foreably inpregnated by him, and forced to raise the child as young as she was. I know it is a difficult thing to come to terms with, but that is the reality of it all. Sometimes we like to escape reality. But it will come back to remind us eventually. Reality is like a big dog, sure we can run and hide from it, climb a tree, sit on a roof, whatever. But reality will always sniff us down and find us. And even though it may not be able to reach us, it will sit and bark, bark, and growl until we can't take it anymore. That is what reality does to all of us. And the pickin's are gettin' slim. Society is morally bankrupt, and there are so few places we can turn to in times like now, where reality is the last thing we want to stare in the face. But eventually we will all have to deal with reality in our own rights.

"Well, nothing bad came out of it, right?" Double D asked, making sure that nothing had gone beyond just suggestive looks and cat-calls.

"For the most part, yeah, pretty much. There have been a few who have tried to grab me on a couple occasions." Marie said. It was true. She had been copped by a few men, especially since puberty had set it, and, to put it lightly, Marie was well developed in those areas. More so than most girls at her age. The very same thing that had caught Double D's eye on more than one occasion, of course would attract the looks of others. The difference is, that Double D could have it, other's could not. That, did, affect Marie's inner pychosis a little. Of course it would anybody. It had desensitized her greatly. Of course in today's society, it is all too common. And personally, that is why I live outside of society.

"Who Marie, who?" Double D demanded, almost without reserve. He truly, well, wanted to know.

"I don't know!" she shrugged. Truly she didn't. It had been random people here and there. No real rhyme or reason to it.

"Why did you let them?" Double D asked her.

"I couldn't stop them. They just did what they did. I couldn't do anything." Marie said. Those memories she had tried so hard to repress reared their ugly heads back at her now.

"Regardless, allow us to get off of that topic. Come Marie, I have something to show you." Double D said, taking her hand. The two went out of the door and out of the house, en route to Double D's house.

It was just barely 4 am, and somewhere, across the plains of time and space, beyond multiple demensions, in a distant parallel universe, Stu Pickles had lost control of his life as he made custard.

As soon as they got to his house, Double D unlocked the door and they quietly creeped up the stairs and into his room. Double D cut on the lamp near his bed and he instructed Marie to sit down on the bed as he grabbed his steel guitar and set it up.

"Oh, are you gonna play me a song?" Marie asked him in a semi-sarcastic tone.

"Why yes I am." Double D replied. "Marie, this is a song that I first memorized on this cursed instrument, and is the one I am going to play you now." he said as he pulled up a chair and sat infront of the thing.

"What's it called?" she asked him.

"It's called _Sleepwalk."_ he said as he plucked the strings a little.

"Oh wow." Marie said as she leaned in to hear the playing.

Double D started playing the song _Sleepwalk _by Santo & Johnny. He really dug his heels into the long solos of the steel guitar, and added his own unique twang to it. The beautiful playing was second to none as he drew from within the long screeches and moans of the magical instrument. And at the end of the song, he pulled out the high pitched ending chord to sum it all up.

"Wow, that was just amazing Double D." Marie told him as he joined her on the bed, and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"I do have a knack for it." he said. smiling, as he leaned and touched his head to hers.

"You have a knack for a lot of things." Marie said grinning.

Tonight had marked three months. Three months of a solid relationship. Three months and life to go...

_The moment I met you,_  
_Our love was true._  
_And when you passed me by,_  
_I, wanted to cry._  
_Oh, what you do to me,_  
_It's very plain to see..._  
_This truth I can't conceal..._  
_It's love that I feel._

_(Love, love) _

_It's from your embrace,_  
_And your saving grace. _  
_That sparkle in your eyes, _  
_Makes me realize,..._  
_I love you like I do. _  
_And you love me too,..._  
_This truth I can't conceal. _  
_It's your heart I steal..._  
_With, this love that I feel. _

_Your eyes look into me _  
_(into me, into...me...) _  
_And they glow playfully._  
_(Playfully, play...ful..y) _  
_Your smirk I can't ignore_  
_It's you I adore. _  
_For now,..._  
_And ever more..._

_Ohhhh, my love Marie, _  
_This thing that you do to me. _  
_Your gentle kiss, _  
_At a moment like this..._  
_The moon shines down at you, _  
_And lights you a-new. _  
_This love we have is real,_  
_And that's the deal. _  
_Of, this love that I feel. _

_Your eyes...look into me..._  
_(whaaaaaaa) _  
_And they glow...playfully..._  
_(Ooooooooooh) _  
_That smirk I can't ignore, _  
_(wha wha whaaaa) _  
_It's you that I adore. _  
_For now..._  
_And ever more..._

_Marie, you're my only love. _  
_You came from up above. _  
_That night you held me tight..._  
_The stars were shinning bright..._  
_But they weren't in the sky,_  
_They were bright in your eyes. _  
_Put there for you, _  
_and I..._  
_(Oooooooooh, wha wha ooooooh) _

_You've got looks to kill, _  
_And your love is my will_  
_Together we will always be, _  
_If you come and go with me. _  
_It's your gentle sway, _  
_Each and every day..._  
_(every, every day...) _

_Oh, my love Marie..._  
_Your name, is truly lovely..._  
_Even though your past is rough. _  
_You don't have to be so tough. _  
_Cause with love, all things heal..._  
_This truth I can't conceal. _  
_Our love is real. _  
_And I know that she'll, _  
_Bring me this love,..._  
_This love,..that I feel..._

_(Ooooowhoaooo) _

_This truth I can't conceal, _  
_The love we share is real. _  
_And I know that she'll..._

_Bring me this love,_  
_(Bring me this love,...)_  
_(Bring me this love,...)_  
_(Bring me this love,...) _  
_(Bring me this love,...) _

_This love,..._  
_That I..._

_Feel..._

_This love that I,..._  
_Feel..._

_(Ooooooh, oooo...)_


	60. Chapter LX

Chapter LX

_Up in the mornin' an' out to school, _

_The teacher is teachin' the golden rule. _

_American history, practical Math..._

_You study 'em hard and hope to pass. _

_Workin' your fingers right to the bone. _

_And the guy behind ya won't leave you alone._

Today was the first day of high school for the kids we come to learn about over the course of 59 chapters. Their summer had been a wild one, but now was the time to get back to the lovely things about life: being locked up in a building in a room of 30 glue sniffers whose only ambition is to see who can make the most people laugh. If the fire is hot in the kitchen, then high school must be hell. Or at least Dante's second or third level. It certainly isn't a happy place to be. What will high school hold for our favorite couple of Double D and Marie? I guess we will find out...

Double woke up at 6 that morning. It was his typical routine for school. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he was thinking about how excited he was to actually go back to school. But the inner weakling that he was was a little scared of high school. Of course, the first day is always the worst. Double D being a nerd gave him an extra disadvantage, not to mention weakness. But he felt a little extra resiliance, especially with Marie by his side. In fact, he felt invincible. He had an advantage no one else had. Marie. Now I don't just mean that in the sense that he felt much better about himself in the emotional sense, I also mean that Marie is tough, and could easily take down anybody that tried to harm Double D in anyway.

Down the stairs he flew as he went. His parents had already left for their employment. Col. Moore had to report at the Wright-Patterson Air Base at 0700 every morning. Peach Creek was a nice suburb of Cincinatti, Ohio, and the base was located about 20 or 30 miles away in Dayton. It was about a an hour and a half drive either way you looked at it. He always left at 4:30 though. And don't worry, no pudding is made.

As far as his mother was concerned, she had to go to work at about six, so she left right as Double D got up. Leaving the house completely to himself, Double D didn't mind that much. He was very used to it, and didn't mind at all. In fact, in a way, he preferred it. With Marie being around him most of the time, he felt it to be quite refreshing to by alone for once. To have a little personal time. A little "Double D" time if you will.

Walking into the kitchen, Double D immediately went over the coffee pot and proceeded to whip up a nice pot of the black stuff. Double D was just 6 cups shy of a good morning. Pouring the water in the receptical, putting in a new filter, putting in the coffee, and of course turning it on. Now, I as a coffee aficianado can tell you more than anything, there is nothing better than a cup of black coffee to tone everything up. Heck, I'm drinking a cup now. I have only a couple things to say about coffee: I can sleep when I'm dead, and if you're not shaking, you need more. You can never have enough, so pour youself another cup.

Coffee is just what hit the spot for Double D on this bright and early morning. Class started at 8, so he had better hurry if he was to get there on time. Peach Creek High was about a block from the Junior High school. About 10 more minutes of walking time in totem. Not very much, but it is still 10 minutes more. Ah, high school. The last flight of stairs on the way to adulthood. The last shred of adolecence before the real world runs straight over you like a cement truck.

Double D sipped his coffee as he read over the newspaper that was so carefully placed on the kitchen table. The newspaper, I'm sure most people don't even know what one of those is anymore. One of the greatest mediums is that of print. As a warrior of the word, I can certainly attest to that.

He found some pretty good articles on nature and science near the back in the Arts & Leisure section. He practically just trashed the Sports section, and very little use for the local section. There was nothing that ever happened in the city that really dictated have a local section in the newspaper. It was usually just a couple articles about "local heros," most of the time about a kitten that rescued or an elderly man who defended himself with his cane and a few prunes. Then you had the obituaries, and let's face it, that's the one invitation that you don't want to recieve.

The news was fun, but it was now around 6:30, and Double D was getting anxious.

"Oh my. Time must have gotten to the best of me. Must get going." He told himself as he took one more sip of his mug and got up from the table, carrying the newspaper with him. Double D didn't really make a sprint to the bathroom because he was trying to rush, he still had a fairly decent amount of time. No, it was mostly because he could feel the call of duty, and I think you know which duty I'm talking about in this instance. Just another morning routine. And Double D was all about routine. He was so obsessed with keeping his routine ever constant, and he usually throws a hissy fit when his schedule gets a little of out line. It's a wonder he also doesn't count cards and watch the People's Court everyday. (I award the person who picks up that reference).

Just as Double D went into the bathroom, he closed the door and took his position on the toliet. Of course we all know what happens in that particular area.

Double D still couldn't Marie off his mind. She stayed there, in his mind constantly. He had had the most wonderful dream about her the previous night. It was of her coming into his room late at night. He was lying in his bed, trying to go to sleep. When out of nowhere she appeared. She just appeared. She didn't come through the door, the window, or anywhere. She just came out of nowhere before him. Of course it was a dream, so anything is possible. She walked over to him and looked at him seductively and gave him her signature smirk. The smirk that burned in his heart. He wanted to say something, but she wouldn't allow him. As his lips began to part, she quickly moved her index to them and shook her head. Double D simply looked at her with amazment, not saying a word. She took and started to undress infront, and seductively at that. And the rest is for mature imaginations only...

Double D still sat there on the toliet, reimagining that dream with his eyes in the back of his head, a grin on his face. He began an action,...well,...let's just say that it was an action where no actual chickens had their respiration cut off. Let's just leave it at that...

After having a good shower, Double D got dressed and got all of his necesarry things ready for school. Just as he had put on his backpack and began to head out the door, he saw Marie standing there. Immediatley he was greated by her grace.

"Hey cutie..." she said as she walked into the house. She had on a nice blue blouse and a dark blue skirt. Everthing about her was blue, except her hair of course, which wasn't blue anymore. Her glow filled the room as if it had never before. She smirked at him and gave him a sparkling look.

"Oh, hello Marie." Double D said, not taking his eyes off of her.

"So, you ready for school?" Marie asked him, trying to make conversation.

"Oh, absolutely." Double D said. In truth, Double D is always ready for school. He wishes that school was year round, so he could always be in his intellectual element. "I honestly can't wait to see what high school has in store for us."

"I know, it's gonna be so much fun, huh cutie?" she asked. Double D just imagined that high school would be anything but fun. Sure, he enjoyed learning, but at what cost? Emotional scarring, mental terrorism, all of that? But again Double D felt practically invincible. As long as Marie was at his side.

"Sure." he replied.

"Well, we better get goin, huh?" Marie asked, sticking her hand out to grab his.

"Yes, let's go." Double D said as he slid his backpack on and grabbed her hand back, as they went out the door and into the street. The time, about 7:10. The whole cul-de-sac was lively with life. Johnny and Plank had started their morning trek, and Rolf was heading fast on his tractor. Out of the corner of his eye, Double D could see Carlo and the rest of his cousins walking out of their houses, fully dressed in their usual black suits. Of course Ed and May were now a lot more physical now than they had been. They also held hands as they walked up into the rising sun.

Eddy and Lee were hardly physical at all, and they just walked side by side, hands in their pockets. Double D and Marie coasted over to them.

"Eddy are you ready for a whole new year of education?" Double D asked him.

"Puh, yeah right Double D. More like a whole nother year of detention." Eddy scoffed, very annoyed by the return of the school year.

"Well, I'll be right there with ya." Lee told him as she lightly hit him in the arm.

"Geez, watch it will ya!" Eddy said in a very grumpy voice. He obviously wasn't in his best of moods today.

"Alright!" Lee said, obviously picking up on Eddy's quite angry tone "Have an anuerism why don't ya!"

"Hey, that's my line!" Toni, Double D's cousin called as the four Boys walked up behind the ever growin group of guys.

"Shut up Toni, eh? Before I bust ya five dollar lip and make change!" Carlo said, joining the group. "Eh Eddy, what's got you under the weather?"

"School bites. I just wanna stay at home." Eddy replied.

"But Eddy, how will ever gain an education?" Double D asked him.

"Screw educations, who needs 'em anyway? All they do at school is give you detentions and yell at you. Who want's that?" he asked.

"But Eddy, school can be quite enjoyable if you make it. You just have to follow the rules." Double D replied.

"Yeah yeah, I hear ya." Eddy said as he waved his hand in the air.

"Out of the way, buttered toast!" Ed screamed as he ran though the group and straight for the school. He had May on his shoulders, and she was just smiling and laughing as they cruised on down the sidewald.

"Faster, Ed, faster!" she said, giddy with laughter.

"Okay!" Ed said as they mushed on.

Toward the school.

_**Note:** _

_I don't know where else I'm going to take the story, therefore I don't know when else I am going to be able to update. I've got some other stories to tend to. Perhaps some members of the Shackleford Nation have some ideas they would like to see come alive. Fanfiction of the Fanfiction perhaps. _

_Either way, I am calling on you as the Shackleford Nation to rise up and help a little. _

_Thanks, _  
_Shackleford._


	61. Chapter LXI

Here's,….Shackleford!

I'm back, and better than ever.

And just a note, but me and KiltedEngineer are now tied in chapters. Fair game, fair game.

Song used in this chapter:  
watch?v=uVUMS8TuymA

Chapter LXI

_Chicks..._

_Kicks,..._

_Cats,..._

_Cool,..._

_uh, schoooool! _

_Yeah, yeah, yeah I go to a swingin' school. _

_Ah, where the chicks are kicks and the cats are cool. _

_Ah, we dance the greatest and we dress the latest_

_Whoa, whoa, whoa I go to a swingin' school. _

Marie and Double D cruised up to the school holding each other's hands. The school was a lovely little place. A very large brick building with a large central stair case leading up to it. The auditorium was the glistening factor of the building, being the largest part of the building. The concrete stairs led up to a brick-paven courtyard that wrapped around to the front office entrance. There were two large parking lots that were postioned at the front and back of the school, and the bus drop-off wrapped around in a semi-circle in front. In total, is was your typical American high school that was built in the late 40s, post war era. So many of those schools dot America. They are truly works of art, and I consider them all to be masterpieces.

Going into the front intrance, all the kids were beginning to come off the buses. Double D and Marie were nearly run over by the morning herd of stoners, preps, jocks, and, well, everyone else. High school was a whole different ball game. Heck, it is practically a new sport all together. Drama, gossip, slack jaws, slightly slack jaws, sports, gluesniffers, the whole package. Were Double D and Marie ready for this hell on earth? To be honest, I don't think any of us were ready for high school. I know I wasn't.

The smell of perfume and coffee filled the florescent laiden hall way, the first day of school always called for both. Superficious teeny-boppers all stood around at their lockers, looking in the mirrors, or just plain out goofin' off. Pretty typical of your average gathering of young people. Not much else to say about that.

Double D's locker was all the way down the middle hallway, right across from the cafeteria and about two minutes away from the front doors. Prime real estate in the imagination of any high school kid.

He and Marie strolled over to it, still hand in hand. Of course, they were also trying to dodge the on coming traffic and morning herd that filled the halls locker-to-locker. Long live the kids like me who spent the first few weeks mapping the best alternate routes and shortcuts. All the more time to brown nose my math teacher.

Anyway, a certain scent of stale coffee and moth balls filled the area around the cafeteria. To be honest, it was the lunch ladies. Oh the lunch ladies. The last true Rosie the Rivetters of their time. Where would we be without their spry attitudes and hairnets? A much more depressing world, I can tell ya that much.

"Look Double D, we're right next to the cafeteria. That means we'll be the first ones in for lunch." Marie said, pointing to the big large doors as they walked by.

"You are absolutely correct Marie. But I also notice another item that will be quite the necesity." Double D said, pointing to something else.

"The fire alarm?" Marie asked, quite curious by his excitement over it. What would he need that for? Surely Double D wasn't a peanut-butter laced, sandal wearing prankster that would go pulling alarms for trouble making purposes. That wasn't anywhere near his uptight and outta sight character. He was much more civilized than to shoot from the hip with childhood pranks.

"That is correct." Double D said with a smile. Marie couldn't picture in her head the thought of Double D even attempting to do something as stupid as pulling the fire alarm. Surely that musn't have been what he was thinking.

"Why that?" Sh asked.

"Because, the friction from our bodies just might cause a fire." Double D said, the only man alive able to make thermodynamics into sweet talk.

"Oh, Double D." Marie sighed as she laid her head onto his shoulder as they continued walking. That is, until they reached Double D's locker. Locker number 1178. He put in the combination, 42-25-48. A distinct locker, already filled with Double D's personal collection of acedemia and knowledge. Placing his bookbag in, he grabbed his books necesarry for the first half of the day. Math, English, science, and Latin. Four wonderful courses to start out his high school career with.

Turning back around, he saw Marie standing there with her bookbag in her hands, looking at him with her puppy dog face. Lip poking out, eyes downed, head titled. A face that Double D especially could not ignore.

"What is it Marie?" he asked, looking into her face with a concerning expression.

"Can I put my stuff in your locker?" she asked, quivering her lip in a very convincing manner.

"But Marie, surely you have a locker of your own, do you not?" Double D asked her.

"Uh-uh..." Marie said as she shrugged her shoulders, still not letting her face let up.

"Well, alright. It certainly couldn't hurt any, and would perfectly schedule more 'us' time to spend. And that is always a good thing, correct?" he asked her, quickly taking her book bag and depositing it on one of the three racks that lined the interior of the locker walls. In her hands Marie held the books and items she would need for the rest of the day as well.

"Anytime I get to look into your eyes, it's a good thing, buddy boy." Marie said, playfully poking him in the arm with her finger.

"I still see you kept your promise." Double D said, grinning at her.

"What promise?" she asked him.

"You can remember, can't you? That day we first met at your trailer?" Double D said, trying to jog her memory back up to par. Her mind was in the proverbial sandtrap, and needed a good wedge to knock it back onto the fairway.

"Yeah, what about it?" Marie asked him in return.

"That phrase you said. I recall that you said something along the lines of 'I'll touch you whenever I want, buddy boy!'" Double D said, quoting the very words she had said.

"Oh yeah, now I remember..." Marie said as she chuckled devishly, putting her head to Double D's chest as she slowly wrapped her arms around him. He returned the favor and embraced her as well.

Up the hall way walked some nerdy kid with black framed glasses, think black hair, and clothes that looked like they dated to about 1958. He walked with an almost crooked walk, as he took wide, gliding steps. He breated out of his moth as he cruised up the hall way. He looked like about a junior, and he looked over and saw Double D and Marie hugging as he walked on.

"Oh, get a room why don't ya!" he snorted as he let out a very embarrasing laugh and slowed his walking down.

Marie looked up with very angry eyes. She was furious, and ready to pull a Sgt. Hartman.

"Hey you, yeah you nerdy boy!" Marie called out, pointing to him with her finger. She spoke in a qutie assertive voice, and everyone in the hall turned around and looked on.

"Me?" he asked, feeling pretty lucky today. He reached into his pocket almost as if he was ready to pull something out.

"Yeah you!" Marie said, still pointing at him and walking closer to him, "And that better be a sandwich you're reachin' for, cause you're gonna have to eat it!" Marie said, jabbing her finger in his chest. The kid was pretty weak, and felt very humiliated by this. He simply snorted and walked on.

"Fine." he said. Everyone turned back around to resume whatever it was they were doing before the outburst.

"Now then," Marie said, embracing Double D again with a smile, "where were we?"

"Right about here." Double D said, leaning close to her.

"Oh, that's right, silly me." Marie said grinning as the two leaned in close, and locked lips. Their tounges wrestled back and forth and their eyes swam like two fish in a bowl. No moment could have been more magical than this. This moment was like no other.

_My little chick is my heart's desire. _

_Well the way we kissed put the school on fire..._

_Ah chicks. _

_Kicks,..._

_Cats,..._

_Cool,..._

_Yeah, schooool..._

The two exchanged their kiss for about, oh, I'd say a couple moments. Just enough to re-engrain their love for eac other. Afterwards they just hugged and glared into each other, mystified and glorified. Nothing was better than this. Nothing is better than love.

"Double D, what are we gonna do, not bein' able to see each other for a couple hours?" Marie asked him. They had pretty much been together all summer long. And being apart, even for a short little time was almost apocolyptic to them. Bring our your dead, the monter's comin', cause Marie and Double D will be apart for an hour at the most.

"Well, we'll see each other after class, and at lunch, and all over. Don't become so discouraged Marie. It will be here before you know it." Double D replied, smiling at her.

"Oh Double D, you always know all the right stuff to say." she said.

"Well, it is all a matter of timing." he said.

"Yeah, yeah." she said. The five-minute warning bell sounded, and it might as well have been a cattle call in the middle of Rawhide. People were running everywhere, it was crazy. Double D and Marie parted, but not without a nice goodbye. For another hour, they would be seperate.

Lunch time would be there before they knew it though. Oh, lunch time. The magical time of conversation and school-yard socialism. The systematic table ranking, the hierarchy of popularity. Where will Dobule D and Marie be placed?

Tune in next time to find out more, here in the Shackleford Nation.


	62. Chapter LXII

...and Shackleford pulls ahead with the lead!

Chapter LXII

_Ring, ring goes the bell_  
_The cook in the lunch room's ready to sell_  
_You're lucky if you can find a seat_  
_You're fortunate if you have time to eat_

Finally, after a long, hard, grueling four hours of pure torture, the lunch bell sounded and the hallways filled with hungry teenagers ready to tear into some lunch and gossip with their friends about how horrible their morning had been.

Of course, we all know, in western society anyway, about the school cafeteria hierarchy that occurs. It happens to all of us. The best way to map out the school is by observing the table set up in the lunch room. Just look around, you'll always tell. Jocks sit at the jock table, preps sit at the prep table, bitches sit at the bitch table, hoodlums with the hoodlums, we get the picture. And prime real estate is always an issue. Usually the most advanced and cunning group gets the table closest to the exit door. And who would they be but our lovable cul-de-sac crew.

Double D had to have his meeting with Marie at his locker, as he had made her the promise. This would be the first school year where Marie wouldn't have to ask for other people's food. She actually had money to buy her own lunch. She couldn't believe it. Step by step, Marie was moving into the lifestyle of normal kids. Slowly but surely, she was systematically moving up the scale of adolecense. The hardest scale to climb.

"Hey cutie." Marie said in her typical, quasi-seductive voice. She stood next to Double D's locker door as she leaned her arm on it, looking at his face as he placed his books away and presumed to escort her to lunch.

"Hello Marie, very nice to see you again." Double D replied, almost as cliche as school itself.

"Nice to see you too, finally." Marie said, letting out a bigger sigh than David Letterman after he tells a joke.

"It did seem like an enternity, didn't it?" Double D responded, carefully shutting his locker door as he turned around, offering his hand for Marie's. She of course grabbed his hand as they dipped, dodged, ducked, dived, and...dodged into the cafeteria. At least no wrenches were being chucked at their faces.

The high school cafeteria, an amazing room, is it not? A large area of hunger, socializing, and food. The smells, the sounds, the energy, the lack of energy, all of it together made a room of great diveristy. Truly a great room, and more than one statement about high school can be made simply by observing the arrangement with in the cafeteria. A lot.

Marie and Double D coasted up through the masses to the lunch line, the vogue of all high school experiences. Mostly because of the cutters. The cutters, they take, then they go. Bout as worse as looters. They take, then they go.

Luckily, no cutting was really in the forecast for today. The reason. Well, to all the reader that have ever been in high school, you can no doubt recall the fact that most people are simply worn out to all ends on that first day back to school. No one outside the acedemia want to be there, and no one wants to get back to that ole-grind routine day in and day out. Summer is fun for all of us, though I hate summer. It is still fun, and we all enjoy being with our friends day after day, and in Marie and Double D's case, being with each other. One gets used to that notion after 90 days, only to be switched around again for another 180. Back and forth, back and forth. Adult hood is much better.

Double D and Marie got in behind Ed and May, who were standing side by side. Ed and May, wow, those two, huh? Their relationship is, how should I put it, unique, to say the least. Certainly not what most of the population would consider normal. Yet we have to examine the induviduals themselves that we are dealing with. Ed and May. Very strange and bizzare people themselves. Their relationship was now as normal as it could possibly be with the two people that we are talking about. I mean, both of them still have their insecurities about each other and the whole love business. And that is pretty typical, when you consider. Their relationship was almost like that of two five year olds in preschool. They know they like each other, but they almost feel guilty thinking about it. It's not a sin, but both of them still thought that it was. For some unexplainible reason, they thought it was. It was possibly their obscure, somewhat benelovent yet subliminaly immature relationship. Indeed sometimes those relationships are the ones that last long as well.

"Get out the way, May, we got here first!" Marie said, not really trying to pick a fight with her sister, but doing so in a more playful manner.

"Shut up Marie, we was here first." May said, crossing her arms in a "there" fashion.

"Ladies, please, there are more important matters today than petty arguing. Please, resolve your bickering." Double D chimed in, trying to mediate.

"See May, my man says you need to shut your big yap!" Marie said, crossing her arms and blowing a raspberry that only Archie bunker was capible of doing.

"Yeah, well..." May said, pondering for a moment, "What do you think, Big Ed?"

"They have gravy..." Ed said, his tounge hanging out as he peering into the lunch line, eyeing the gravy that he loved so much.

"..and that's Ed for you!" Eddy said as he and Lee walked up to the line where the other four kids were.

"Oh, hello Eddy. Nice of you to stop by." Double D said, almost in a psuedo-sarcasim.

"Yeah, yeah. Man these guys have been burnin' the heck out of my butt today! I already got three detentions!" Eddy said, holding up his three slips of yellow paper.

"Wow Eddy, I am simply with out words. You never ceace to beat your own records I suppose." Double D said.

"Don't I know it..." Eddy remarked, just looking down. He saw this writing on the wall a long time ago. Just a man in the stocks.

"I got three too." Lee said. However, she had gotten them on purpose. Just more time to spend harrassing Eddy in her mind.

"Yeah, don't remind me..." Eddy said. He and Lee we're technically in a "relationship" yet. At least not by the standards set by Double D and Marie, and possibly even Ed and May. They were still frenemies, allies, but still villians to each other deep down inside.

Either way, the Eds and Kankers filtered through the slow moving lunch line, up until the very end. Eventually they had their lunches, and they still had about twenty minutes to spare, pretty good timing in my mind at least. But hey, I used to be the first person in line.

They all three sat at the table that had been practically reserved for them years in advance, (I should know sir, I've always been here...). The nerdy table. It was a long rectangle of intelligence, with nerds of all walks of life. You had the math nerds, the computer nerds, the trivia nerds. Trekkies, Star Wars, geeks, dweebs, dorks, all had representation is some form. It was basically a United Nations of acedemia. None to present was our favorite passer-by sitting at the very end of the table, across from his blond haired friend. There was a large portion of the other end of the table, currently open to them. They all sat down and looked around, beginning to eat. Eddy just sat and flicked at his milk carton. Double D began sipping his milk and tearing into a nice salad. Ed was slurping up the gravy with a straw. The three girls were tearing into their food, being that this was for all intents and purposes their first school lunch.

"I say Marie, you must be fairly hungry!" Double D exclaimed, seeing her down a hamburger in less time than it takes to say the word.

Marie just looked up and smirked at him, for her mouth was too full to say anthing.

After she was done, a kid next to them spoke up to Marie. He looked vaguely familiar. But not really.

"Hey, you're that girl that called out our main man this morning?" he asked. He spoke in a voice very similar voice to Jack Nicholson circa 1975.

"Yeah, that's me." Marie said, as the six Eds and Kankers looked up to the kid, "What about it?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that you shouldn't take Russ over there so seriously. He's a real smart-alleck when he wants to be. He was just kiddin' with you. That's how he works. He thinks that he's the funniest man on earth. You just have to play along with him." the kid said.

"Who are you?" Double D asked, curious as to the identity of this mystery kid, who looked about the same age as this supposed Russ.

"Well, let's just call me anonymous for right now." he said, taking a gulp of his milk cartoon.

"His name's Chris." another kid said, leaning over from his other conversation.

"I told you not to call me that!" he said "I am the white wizard of Algeon!" he said.

"So who is that kid that called us out this morning?" Marie asked, pointing at him all the way down the table.

"Alright guys, you're new here, so I'll give you the skinny. But make sure you tell as many people as possible. So listen close." he said, as the 6 kids grouped in to listen.

"Alright, his name is Russ Maddox, the smartest kid in this school. Or at least in his own mind. But I'm telling ya the kids a genius. He can tell you anything you need to know, and I mean anything. He is one of the smartest guy out there."

"So he's the king of the nerds?" Eddy asked.

"You can say that. He got this group together. I've known him forever. He's a pretty nice guy, but he has a huge reputation on the line. One slip up and he's screwed for life. He's very paranoid about everything. It's weird."

"So he's crazy?" Eddy said, sipping on his milk.

"Not really. But he says that he has post traumatic stress disorder."

"Post traumatic stress disorder? How so?" Double D asked.

"From a chess match." he said in the most serious of voices.

The whole group burst out laughing. They couldn't believe it. PTSD from a chess match?

"How did he get that from a chess match?" Eddy asked, still laughing.

"None of us really know. He tells the story all the time, but none of us can understand him. He speaks in another way. He talks in metaphores and analogies. It's weird." he said, backing off a little. "Go over and aske him about it, I'm sure he'll love to tell you." he said, nudging his head at him.

"Couldn't hurt..." Marie said, as the six of them got up and walked over to the kid who was being identified. Eddy looked right into his face and said:

"Hey, you're that crazy kid with PMS, right?"

Double D leaned into Eddy's ear and whispered "That's PTSD, Eddy."

"Oh, yeah, right." Eddy replied.

"I suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, yes." he said, sipping some milk up with his straw.

"How come?" Lee asked leaning on his shoulder.

"Well I can tell you, if you please GET OFF OF ME!" he said,

"Sorry, geez, have a heart attack why don't ya!" Lee said, standing back with her hands on her hips.

"Now, I suffer,...from PTSD for a number of reasons. The major one being...the match." he said, taking long dramatic pauses in between.

"What match?" Lee asked.

"The chess match." he said. Everyone at the table stopped whatever they were doing to listen to this. It was only the millionth time they've heard the story. "Gather round."

The six kids sat at the table surrounding him, and listend to his story. The proverbial lights had been dimmed as he went into a deep monolouge.

"There I was, a day,...like no other. It was August 5, 2009. Ah yes, the day was warm as it was inviting. I was the captain of the chess team, back when we actually had one. It was the first match of the year, and we were up against Lemonbrook. Ah man, the look in that kids face. The determination he had. He,...looked,...right into my eyes. Pierced my soul. He had,...the look...of a killer. He quickly moved his paun as he hit the timer. Again and again, he matched my every move. Everytime I would move, he would copy it. It went on for hours...and hours...Constantly hitting the timer. That eternal dinging noice...really...gets to a guy. I couldn't take it. I finally sacrificed a few of my pieces. He... of course went for it, giving me plenty of time to destroy him. I won, but all I can remember, I was there...I was there...in the middle of it. The screaming of the timer as it dinged and dinged. I'll never forget it. As long,...as I live." he finished, snorting as he sipped his milk again.

The six kids looked at each other. Their thoughts were obvious. This kid was weird, strange, and probably insane.

"What else?" Lee said, as he had hinted at other times as well.

"Oh I'll tell ya, tomorrow at lunch." he said with a smile, as the bell rang right as he finished his sentence. It was almost as if he harnesed ESP. The lunch room emptied as the six Kankers and Eds left the cafeteria, utterly terrified by his words.

Either way, half the day was behind them.


	63. Chapter LXIII

Songs in this chapter:

watch?v=T9CSv3j4aUY

watch?v=DHG5-GxI_Es

watch?v=P2-VGDF4y18

Chapter LXIII

_After school, we have to rendezvous..._

_Ah, gonna plan all the things_

_that we're gonna do..._

_Trade out books in for cookin',_

_out with my lookin', _

_when our days at the school are through._

The school day was nearly over, when an announcement came over the PA system. Now of course, every one who has ever been in an American high school will no doubt recall the fact that they typically do an after school announcement before the bell rings, you know, to update the students and faculty about the news of what's going on, what games are scheduled, and the general where-abouts of the typical run away stapler, or how much time the xerox machine will be out. General "heads-up" info like that, was crucial to the everday focus of the school, and gave a real since of accomplishment and redundancy. Being as though no one cared about the announcements, and the face that the students just wanted to be freed from their confinement of injustice, negligence, and imprisonment in exchange for freedom, fun, and good times. What was on the calendar for our favorite cul-de-sac crew? Well, you'll just have to wait to find out, won't you?

Regardless, the announcement rolled along as they always do, even for a first day of school something was oh so cliche about it. It was just begging for someone to chant "boring!" from their abundant pedistal of self-explanation. Of course, if there is anyone who can further explain the feeling of boredom in it's entirety, it has to be a teenager. Because of course they have nothing to do in their lives than roll in their self loathing and pity themselves for not having a thing to preoccupy themselves with at all. I mean, we're talking about teenagers here. These are the same group of people that have the attention span of Mighty Mouse on cocaine. But of course, since half of them are doped up on Riddilen, most of them are more out of it than Neo in the Twilight Zone. I mean, they are so completely deprived of any type of amusement. With all their iPods, iPads, iPhones, and whatever else is made by that fruit company. It's no wonder none of them have an i-dea.

Regardless of technicallities, the principal went on and on about the new school year, and all the goals that were to happen that school year, and they all would be tossed out faster than a New Year's Resolution at the Clinton household (you'll thank me later).

Finally he delved into something that unexpectidly excited the young people all over the school And it's quite suprising, considering that you typically wouldn't expect kids these days to get excited over menial fun and games, but our loving high school cul-de-sac clan, they couldn't get enough of it. Why? Well, let's get on with it!

"...and now, boys and girls, young people, our next announcement is for all you gifted teenagers out there. This Thursday we will hold our annual Back to School Talent Show. There are no auditions, but you are asked to sign up in the lobby right before class starts in the morning. Acts are to be booked no later than tomorrow afternoon, so please, we urge all of our best and brightest students to express their best talents, at the talent show, this Thursday night at 6:00. Remember, sign up no later than tomorrow afternoon. Well, that about does it for today. And remember, have a great afternoon when you leave Number One Big Peach Country."

After concluding his gregarious speech, the kids seemed a lot more excited now. Though, it was probably more for the fact that the minute hand was inching closer,...and closer...and closer...and..closer...

*RING*

The school bell sounded, as the kids jumped up in great happiness, ready to vacate their imprisonment for the open freedom of the afternoon.

_Soon as three o'clock rolls around..._

_You finally lay your burden down. _

_Close up your books, get outta ya seat,_

_Down the halls and into the street..._

Double D followed the five Ds as he dipped and ducked his way through the narrow halls of the school, en route to his quaint little locker at the end of the stairs, and might I say a quaint little girlfriend as well.

Now, I don't mean to get off on a rant here, but doesn't it seem ironic in the most Twainian of all senses that just moments ago, all these kids were sluggish and lifeless, bogged down by fatigue and quantity, were now up and about, moving beyond the speed of smell, and breaking the taste barrier. The taste of freedom. The taste of victory over another day...

Double D stood at his locker, and in an almost Melvinian retrospect, Marie stood there before him, almost in a ponder of repose. It was almost as if she had been standing there for a while, but had just shown up. There was something definetnly Clarksian about that whole science fiction appear before appearing, seeing before being seen pyschobabble only possible in another plane of existence, or was it? Were they really going where no man had gone before? To a non-crowded DMV? Impossible I tell you, impossible!

"Hey cutie." she said in an almost cliched and bearing way, almost as if she was saying the line on cue. Now, I am not at all doubting the sincerity of the statement, simply commenting on the very fact that she had used it to the point of what was now a common, everyday linguistic caricture of romance and love. And that can't be cliched, but it makes me wonder...

"Oh, hello Marie. Very nice to see you again." Double D said, shifting his book bag out of his locker and handing her hers, without of course handing her a gentle peck on the cheeck. Wow, was that still possible? A glint of innocence in a sea of adolecent promescuity? Was that still plausible? A peck on the cheek? I thought those had gone extinct along with common sense and cell phones that you actually talk on.

Marie felt it to be quite unexpected as well. However, to her, it was more similar to just a reminder of the love that they shared. You see kids, back in the days of "goin' steady", that's what couples did. They didn't go out swapping more spit than Daffy Duck trying to say sprinkler. No, they simply exchanged small, simple forms of expression and of romance. Cause we all just like those little sneek previews, before we get to the feature presentation. Where is the mystery in this world anymore? Why do our inner thoughts have to be more bogged down than Gary Busey after watching a marathon of Evil Kenevil movies? Imagination is not freedom from reality. It's freedom to reality. Our own bridge, to get from one cycle to another. Shame on society for trying to burn those bridges.

"Wow Double D, you sure can cheer someone up at the end of a tired day." Marie said, as she gently graced her hand over her cheek, almost not wanting the feeling of his gentle lips to escape her thoughts. They were the thoughts that couldn't escape. He would be like letting out the proverbial lightning you just caught in the bottle.

"Well, I have been engaged with a buch of wonderful ideas Marie, ever since that announcement a while ago." Double D said, shutting his locker door and returning to Marie, who was now at his side and squeezed his hand into hers. Two lovers, one couple. One love.

"And what's that?" she asked, as the herd had subsided, and the halls were now, for all intents and purposes, empty of any real movement, minus that of your stragglers and occasional trampled weak kid who just couldn't move fast enough to escape the herd after school. Truly a sad sight.

"Oh, I will tell you all about it as soon as we are reaquainted with our other friends." Double D said, as they headed for the door that led to the outside. Of course, Double D and Marie were going to head for an almost predictable symbol of American after-school youth: the drive in. Of course, their drive in being the A&W around the block from the school. A place that was fun for all, and gave that great nostalgic glare. The Jukebox, the ice cream, the energy, the youth. Nothing says adolesence like a nice root beer float with a heavy serving of youth.

_Up to the corner, and round the bend..._

_Right to the juke joint you go it. _

_Drop the coin right into the slot. _

_You gotta here somethin' that's really hot. _

_With the one you love you're makin' romance,..._

_All day long you've been wantin' to dance,.._

Double D and Marie held each other's hands oh so tight as they walked into the cute little place. Outside, the bikes and cars lined the parking lot, and Double D could spot Eddy sitting on a barstool insided at the counter. Ed was in a booth with May, and Lee was no where to be seen at this moment at least.

Inside the shop, the smell of vanillia and root beer filled the soft air, and the song Rock and Roll is Here to Stay by Danny and the Juniors blared from the jukebox against the wall. It was almost so cliche to the point where you would expect a guy in a leather jacket to just magically bump into it and play a record. But no, Henry Winkler is now a sold off insurance peddler on those annoying commericials.

"Hey, Double D, park yourself over here." Eddy said as he went over to the booth that was behind May and Ed. They were too busy sipping on a ketchup and mustard sundae to really pay attention to anything.

"Let's go Marie." Double D said, as they went and sat down in the booth. Eddy sat rubbing his hands, with an almost sinister look on his face. If this wasn't a scam in the making, it had to be something just as trickerous to Eddy.

"Marie please excuse my devilishness, but we kinda need to talk alone." Eddy said, resisting the urge to tell her to get lost.

"Okay." Marie said, not really sure of what to think of the whole situation. She was a little confused to say the least, but she knew it was probably not very serious, with Eddy's wise cracking.

And let us not forget, wise cracking is just sarcasm with practice.

Marie walked over and sat on one of the bar stools and looked at the menu that was displayed up above the counter. There was practically nothing that she could afford. So she just called the tender over when she found something that she could.

"Excuse me, excuse me sir..." she started, trying to get her attention.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked, wiping out a glass with a cloth.

"Can I have a Pepsi please?" she asked. No one around here questioned the asking of a Pepsi. It was almost as looked over as the missing period after the "Dr" in Dr Pepper. Now I just wanna know where that period is? I guess Bermuda Triangle.

"Sure thing, but that's gonna be $1.50." he said, sticking his hand out like he was some British candyman.

"Here ya go." Marie said, placing the money in his hand. One dollar and fifty cents, or, fiddy cent, for those of you who are "down wit it." I for one, am not.

She sat and sipped on her frosty glass. This whole scene was almost like a deja-vu. She almost expected the future mayor to be sweeping the floor and some kid eating cereal next to her.

Back over in the war booth, Eddy had finally gotten Ed and Double D alone, and was prepared to give his tale.

"Alright boys, here's the deal. You know that talent show, right?" Eddy asked them.

"Certainly." Double D said.

"Well," Eddy continued, "we gotta cash in on that. It's our one chance to be cool. We gotta do it." Eddy said.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Double D asked, jurred by Eddy's sudden excitement over an extra curricualr activity.

"I don't know but we'll talk about it later. Now,..." Eddy started, as he saw Lee walk in the door. She had gone home to change clothes, and was now in a nice poodle skirt and blouse, which showed off certain areas where only imaginations could roam. Eddy's jaw literally hit the floor. His tounge wagged like a dog.

"Hot momma!" he said, jumping up out of his seat and reaching in his pocket. He pulled out a quarter and handed it to Double D.

"Here, put it on G122." he said, referring to the jukebox. He strutted over to the counter and tapped on the counter twice.

"Carl, give me a milk,...chocolate." Eddy said, as a glass slid down and parked right into his hand. What was next, Biff and the gang singin' back up?

Eddy took a couple sips of his drink, and continued to strut over to Lee. Just as he got to her, Double D had done as Eddy requested, and put the jukebox to the song. The speakers roared as _Love is in the Air_ by Tom Jones started up.

_Love is in the air..._

_Everywhere I look around..._

_Love is in the air,..._

_Every sight and every sound..._

_And I don't know if I'm being foolish, _

_I don't know if I'm being wise._

_But it's something that I must believe in..._

_And it's there when I look in your eyes..._

"Hey foxy momma, hows about you cut a rug with the ole neutrilizer here?" Eddy said, grabbing her hand as he pertained to dance.

"Oh Eddy, of course I could. You could learn a thing or two." Lee said, joking with him. The two got up as Carl went and dimmed down the lights. Everone clapped as Eddy and Lee danced together in the middle of the room.

_Love is in the air, _

_in the whisper of the trees, _

_Ooo, love is in the air,_

_In the thunder of the sea,.._

_And I don't know if I'm just reaming. _

_I don't know if I feel sane,..._

_but it's something that I must believe in,..._

_And it's there when I call out your name..._

Love is truly in the air tonight. Not Phil Colins' face or Mike Tyson either. Just good old fashioned love.


	64. Chapter LXIV

Chapter LXIV

It was quite lovely to see the two of them dancing together, but something stretched much deeper than just the physical act of moving together with the rythym of music. It was almost a spirtital bonding as well. A sort of, I don't know, call to be together by the feeling that both Eddy and Lee were feeling right now. But of course, most people would consider this an out-of-touch moment for both of them. We all know Lee as the bully in chief, and Eddy as the greedy miser that he is. But we have to look past that. Behind every notion hides another notion. We all have to understand that what is already there can't be destroyed. Only hidden from view. Lee is not a bad person. Only a person who has adjusted to conquer her particular situation. She wasn't born this way. She wasn't born with the notion that all men are horrible, and that no one can be trusted. It was instinctual, and was picked up over time. We have to look at the situation she was born into.

She was born into a happy home. One where she had two loving parents, both alike in dignity. She was born into a situation where not only was there everything that she wanted, she had everything that she could hope to want. There couldn't have been a happier sub-urban lifestyle.

As a baby, Lee inhibited certain, clinging qualities. She would often cry a lot or whine when she was left alone. What does this tell us? I mean, all babies do that, right? Well, in a way, yes. But this was a little different. Even at the earliest of ages, Lee expressed signs of fear. What could a baby fear? For Lee, it was fear of abandonment. She couldn't deal with the fact of being abandoned. Physically abandoned, emtionally abandoned, all of that. She felt the most comfort when she was with her mother and father. She felt the most secure with her parents. With them, even as a baby, she felt much more strong. Let us go back to the very begininning, at look at the first hand account of how Lee was a baby, and how she acted. Let's go back to that time.

It was a drewery Detroit morning, that day in 1995. It was a cold October evening. The sound of beatboxing and rythmic bass tones filled the fall air. One could look around and see the mess. The debauchary, the monstrasity. This whole faux idea of realism, coming before us in the form of media and culture. Why was society eroding before us, even in 1995? Because that is when we started to see things as they really were, opposite as to what they should be. It was the year of the Oklahoma City bombings, in which 168 people died, and the Unabomber. OJ Simpson was declared not guilty. How does that tie into this story? Well, we can certainly see that this is about the time that society started to collapse. And it was a year that brought tragedy to many. One of the worst hurricane seasons in history. All this tragedy, such a tragic time. Does it cause us to question what was, or what is? Possibly. But again the question of the relevance comes up. It was this same year of tragedy that our most tragic of characters, Lee Kanker, was born.

Of course, we already know that Lee Kanker was born Barbara Lee Leary, in a quaint hospital of Detroit. It was within the neighborhood of Highland Park, just within the boundaries of Detroit, where the Leary family lived. The red brick houses lined the quiet sub-urban streets, and the roads were straight as they angled off the houses in the communities. The grass was as green as the futures for the people who lived in them. This street, West Parkway Street, was the essential suburbia for any upper middle class family in the mid 90s. The houses accented a very beautiful red accent as the sun reflected off of the bricks and into the crisp fall air. The green yards were raked clean of all debris, as the orange and yellow leaves had gently fallen to the ground from the towering decidious trees that reigned over the neighborhood. The leaves were all raked into oh so carefully placed piles that sat on the curb edge of every house on this particualr street. The trees were begininning to become bare, though, still had several leaves that still clinged to them. The gusty wind however would take care of any leave that attempted to linger. The wind that day was quite gusty, and blew at around ten or so miles an hour. This left the air with an almost nippy quality. One that requires most if not all people to gear themselves with a jacket, or at least long sleeves. Of course, it was about 7:30 that morning, so no one was outside except for the early risers out to work.

A few cars railed up and down the street, mostly the same early risers who were out, heading for their daily jobs. Today was a Friday. Friday the Thirteenth, 1995. The sun was just peaking over the Castle Rouge a block over from the street, and glimmered off of the large metal sign that sat out front of the Clark and Woorely's Used Car lot. The sign displayed a somewhat faded image of an old 1951 Mercury. The sign was a symbol of the neighborhood, and almost served as its mascot. It harkened back to a time when it was perfectly normal for a neighborhood like this to be what it was: a simple, quiet place of repose where families could live and children could grow. Just as the trees grew up from the soil, and the grass up from the dirt, Lee Kanker would begin her life's journey here, a place of quantity and solace. A place time forgot. A place tragedy would remember.

There was one particular house. The address, 7701 West Parkway Street. The house, a one story tudor, gave off an amazing ruby overtone as the sun hit the bricks and scattered the red color all over the eyes of the on lookers. Out front, a concrete stoop with ajoining stairs led up to the front door, which was just a simple white screen door with your typical appearence. Next to it was a large bay window with white triming all around it, which offset the vibrant glow of the bright green grass that sat infront of it. Off to the opposite side sat a nice window with cobalt colored shutters, which matched the shingles perfectly. An additonal room was off to the side of this, and functioned as the new baby room in which the little daughter would reside. Conjoined to this was the one bay garage, which extended off as was set just back behind the additonal room, giving the illusion that it was not apart of the house, when it really was.

Rolling up to the garage was a long concrete driveway, which contained a prized silver-colored 1995 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight Royale LSS, which had less than 500 miles on it. The long running boards on the side glimmered the reflection that the sun cast onto the silver-toned fender. The long hood contained a powerful motor that could make any well respected man feel more than appreciated. It was the prized possession of one Captain Butch Leary, of the Detroit Police Department. He was a proud husband to Barbara Mary Kanker Leary, who was his only love in this life. Butch could feel no more powerful than he did today. It was a lovely fall Friday morning, the burnt-orange colored leaves glowed in the passing sunlight, as the wind gusted and blew them to and fro. The temperature was about 49 degrees, and gave the impression that winter was indeed coming.

At the very bay window that was mentioned earlier, Butch stood at it, peering out with a warm and welcoming glow. He stood in his casual police uniform. His blue long-sleeved shirt and trousers gave away his deep blue eyes. His long black tie sat precisely next to his golden-colored copper badge and his golden captain bars, which were tacked to his collar as if professionally. His hair however had to be the most distinguishing characteristic about him though. His hair was a carrot colored orange, which looked like a rustic piece of iron, exposed to the elements far too long. It was so thick and wavy, one could mistake it for being curly, which it looked incredibly similar to. It was parted as best as possible to the right, however, with that particular hair type, parting is a great challenge. His pale bare face bore only the expression of the reflection that he saw before him. He lookes as though a man so cotempt, so sturdy, so self-disciplined, that he could literally cause a stone to tremble. He had gone beyond a poker face. He had a chess face. A face that held a thousand stories. A thousand tighly knit tales of adventure, wisdom, and stress. This man had been through a lot in his life. He had a military past, a college degree, and was second in charge of the entire Detroit police force. The shoulders of which bore a burden that only Atlas could sympathize with. But he found happiness and solace as he looked out the window, at the beautiful neighborhood that greeted him vice-a-vice the large window. He stood smiling, his white coffee mug held inbetween his fingers. He took a sip, as he had finally ushered in to himself the feeling of acomplishment. He had a beautiful wife, who was almost 9 months pregnant with his daughter to be. He had a great house, that resided in an equally wonderful neighborhood. He had a wonderful job, which not only just gave him a paycheck, but gave him the responibility of watching over an enitre metropolitan area. However, he accepted this responsibility with much posture. Growing up, Butch had been a little bit of a trouble maker. He would often get down to do mischevious things. He would run around and cause trouble. But he was different now. He was a learned man, with a soon to be family. He had responibility. He had his life.

Behind him stood his wife, Barbara. She was a much younger woman then (practically twenty years younger), and her youthfulness was expressed by her much more joyous expression and movement, even past the fact that she was nine months pregnant. The three freckles glittered her face just below her eyes. Her face had shades of Marie, and was more oval shaped like hers. Her hair was cut short just like Marie's, and was a dark brunette color. It was combed loosely, though nicely, across her face, just barely sweeping past her right eye. She had a very happy expression on her face, though she felt fairly sick, and just wanted a pickle. Her emotions had been like a Bally pinball table, bouncing all over the place for the last seven months. But Butch still stood by her the entire time, very eager to finally have a family of his own. He was at the apex of his life, and he was young, large, and in charge. Not even a hurricane of foreshadowing could rain on his parade.

"Hey honey, whatcha doin'?" Barbara asked him as she leaned over on his shoulder. He was a median height man, about 5' 10". Barbara, in contrast, was around 5' 6". Her voice was in that same Great Lakes accent, almost in a typical mid-Western city girl. This voice would later be used by Marie, who shared that similar accent.

"Oh, nothin' much. Just lookin' to see how great of a day it's gonna be." he said, turning around and sipping his coffee. His voice was quite gruff and gravely. He spoke with what could almost pass as a Chicago urban accent. Much like Lee's, however a masculine version.

"Come on muffin, you're gonna be late for work if you just stare out that window all day." Barbara said, tugging on his shirt sleeve. She looked at him playfully, and almost what could be interpretated as seductive. It was a look that melted his heart and caused him to be pulled in to her look.

"Oh alright." he said, reluctently following her into the room. That room being the kitchen, which was through a doorway that went into the living room that he was standing in. Over top of this doorway was a large 11"X14" picture of Butch in his Navy uniform. A model of which Lee's youngest sister would use for some art work one day in the future.

In the light of the kitchen, he couldn't hesitate but to fill his cup up with yet another dose of hot joe. He looked with a amused grin as he looked at his wife leaf through a pile of clothes that sat on the counter. She was trying out clothes, and wanted to know which blouses looked best.

"Now, what do ya think about this one?" she asked, holding up a floral blouse in front of her body.

Butch looked for a moment, and rubbed his chin with his hand. After a few seconds, he simply shrugged his shoulder.

"Oh come on!" Barbara said, "tell me! What do you think?"

"It's okay I guess. I don't know." he said, shrugging his shoulders again.

"Oh, you're no help at all!" Barbara said, throwing the blouse back into the pile.

"Well," Butch said, walking over to her, "when you've worn the same thing everday since you turned 18 like me, clothes just aren't important. I mean, when I was in the Navy, I had to wear those darn dungarees everyday."

Indeed, those dungarees did plague him. Although he still had those Navy commisioned denim pants to that day. He couldn't get rid of them. Years later, they would be worn by his only daughter as a symbol of devotion to her father. The only memory she had, if you will. Similar to how Marie wore green fatigue pants of a loved one for a similar reason. Those blue denim pants would be the only thing Lee would cling to when she missed her father the most. Many a tear would be implanted into the woven denim. Many a tear shed over the only memory she would be able to have of the man who had fathered her.

"Yeah, I remember those things." Barbara said, "I remember they chaffed you so bad that you had to keep a box of corn starch in your underwear drawer."

"Yeah, those were the days, huh?" Butch said, smirking a little at that memory he had tried to surpress.

"Yeah, but we have a new life now. A happy one." Barbara said, grabbing Butch around the waist and laid her head onto his chest. He stroked her hair for a little while, taking into consideration the fact that all of their dreams were finally coming true. All that hard work that the two of them had put it. All of that was finally coming true. They had finally overcome so much to finally see that shred of light at the end of the tunnel. They were on the home stretch, heading for the gold.

"Well, I gotta get goin'. Work, ya know." he said, taking that one last gulp of his coffee and placing it into the sink behind him. He had to be at the station at nine o'clock. And right now it was about eight. Still, when you factor for all of the traffic, time lapse, and general time wasting that would be done in the process. So a head start is always a great thing to have. And on this day, he would need one.

"Alright pumpkin, see ya when you get home." Barbara said, leaning in to his face, looking into his eyes. She couldn't help but smile at him. It was a very similar smile Double D would give to Marie when they would be in the same situation. What? Did I just,...oh...never mind.

"Alright, see ya then." Butch replied, looking back into her eyes with a similar face. I can't quite pinpoint it, but there was something just so,...captivating about this whole thing. There probably couldn't be a better couple ever. Of course, there would be 14 years later, but who can predict the future that far ahead except corrupt politicians?

The two pecked each other on the lips, and gave their farewells. Butch was heading for the door and grabbed his police cap off of the coat hanger, and placed it on his head as he stepped off of the concrete stoop. It was a gorgeous fall day that could only be described as perfect. If you could take a snapshot of a perfect, suburban day with an almost perfect suburban family, this would be it. It was just too good to be true. But there was nothing false about it. It was just what it was.

And what it was, was true love way.

Either way, Butch squeezed into his brand-spanking new Eighty Eight, and hit the ignition on, and after adjusting all the necesarry measures and properly equiping the car into reverse, pulled out of his happy home and drove off down the street.

Turning onto Telegraph Road, Butch was on his normal commute to the downtown area of Detroit, where the police department headquarters was located. Telegraph Road would carry him to I-96, which emptied right into Lincoln Park and into the HQ. A simple route, but still took a great long while to get there, with the traffic jam a mile long on the interstate. But of course, the scenery was lovely, and from the interstate one could perfectly see Lake St. Clair, which was situated right next to the downtown area. Lake St. Clair was just a small bay fed by Lake Erie, which passed right through the city. In the summer time, the lake was just gorgeous. But for now, the fog rolled along it.

Finally, after hours of waiting, Butch was finally able to get onto I-94, which passed into Dearborne. From that angle you could see the giant Stinger boat motor manufactuor, which had set up shop in 1952. They made only the best boat motors in the country, and were the most productive company in the region, especially among the Great Lake states, where boat motor competition was firece. Their posters were highly prized collectors items in the city.

Driving by, Butch also passed another place that was highly seasoned as an establishment in the area. Powerhouse Heavy tools. It was one of the largest hardware suppliers in the state, and did a lot of business with the police department. There were also an oat processor for a feed supply company right next to it. A bunch of men were outside of it as Butch passed by, loading some twenty pound sacks onto the back of a tractor trailer. It was just such a beautiful thing to see blue-collar America do what it does best. Work.

Butch pulled in and parked his great new car in the reserved spot he had at the front of the parking deck that sat next to the headquarters building. Parking decks, now there is a scary place. The glowing, almost dying yellow lights, the echos of the skirks and skids of rubber tires as they slammed on brakes to aboid collisons. The fact of knowing that one wrong move could send you and your vehicle flying out into the street. That is never a nice thought to have at 8:30 in the morning. But luckily Butch had his trust reserved spot right on the ground level and out front. Rank has its merrits. He learned that too well in the Navy.

Butch got out and breathed in the air of a good morning. The great feeling of the ole grind made him happier than anything right now. And possibly the fact that it was Friday. It seems everyone has more of a pep-in-their-step when Friday rolls around. It brings out the best in everyone.

And today would have an even more special surprise.


	65. Chapter LXV

I just wanted to note that I have recieved some comments on my use of religion in my story. I just wanted to say that I am very sorry if I have offended any of my readers, especially my possible agnostic/atheist readers, in the use of the Catholic Church in the story. I try my best to give every reader the best reading experience possible. I will try to make the rest of the story as secular as possible from now on. Thank you for pointin it out.

Your author,  
Shackleford.

Also, I just want to propose a toast to the Shackleford Nation, as we have moved into five digits. That is correct, we now have passed 10,000 views. So here's to 10,000 and many more. To the nation **tips glass to the others**

Shackleford.

Chapter LXV

It was a great day out today. The sun shining, though in between some dark fall clouds. The wind was still fairly brisk, and sent a chill up and down the spines of just about everyone present at the street this bright morning. Beaubien Street was a bustling little place this early, and hoards of people walked up and down the street. Most of them were huddled together due to the chilly air. Though a calendar would say differently, in Michigan, and any of the states north of North Carolina, winter unofficially starts in early October and ends in late April. Heck, snow was in the forecast for next weekend. The weather was just so unpredictable though. And of course, this was before The Al Gore invented global warming, so it just goes to show you never can tell.

Butch strolled up and out of the parking deck, that dark, desolate place that it was and is. The outside wasn't much different, being that the clouds had now passed overhead and covered the only light that could have possibly illuminated the quaint little street. In front of him stood the historic old building, that was the Detroit Police Department headquarters. Of which he was vice commander. It was a title that he didn't take with light regard, and used it to his fullest extent for his responsibility, which was great and powerful. If there was anything that Butch possessed, it was great leadership and assertiveness. Those traits that his daughter would also find within herself.

In many ways, Lee would inhibit many of the qualities of Butch. Not just her accent or her appearence, but her overall attitude. Butch was one of the most happy-go-lucky guys out there. Rarely did he not have that big smile that ran from ear to ear. He also had the undenying sense of self-worth. He felt very accomplished in his life, and felt as though he had lent his hand to many a person in his day. Of course it had all started with the Navy, then then college, now here, on 1300 Beaubien Street, downtown Detroit. The heart and soul of the motor city, was all in his hands. He has a gorgeous wife, a daughter on the way, and nothing but good look riding him all the way home. Today was a day of small celebration for the man who had overcome so much in his life to finally be where he was today, walking into this tall gray building of which he worked. It was his place of solace. It was his place of honor.

"Hey Butch, good mornin' huh?" called the voice of a sergeant that was oh so familiar to Butch. He was a tall blond haired man with a lot of youth in his step and voice. He was very slender and gave off an almost childish glow.

"Oh, hey Rod." Butch called back, as he stepped up from the cracking sidewalk and onto the concrete stairs that led up to the big building. Rod, the much younger version of, stood there, waiting for him, a coffee in his hand and a smile on his face.

"I got ya coffee for ya. It is Friday, ya know." Rod said, handing Butch the paper cup that the steam whipped off of as the wind picked up something fierce. Rod had to hold his large hand over the top to keep the coffee from spilling out and onto the concrete below.

"Great. You didn't put cream or sugar in there, did ya?" Butch asked, looking him straight in the eye.

"Oh, no. I wouldn't dare!" Rod responded, putting his hand up in the air.

"Good." Butch said, giving Rod a big ole whack in the back. Butch was a real physical guy when he had conversations, and the fact that Rod had a whole cup of scalding hot coffee in his hand didn't really seem to phase Butch much.

"I'll tell ya, couldn't be a more bee-utiful day, huh?" Rod asked, as the two stood on the steps, looking at the traffic go up and down the busy street. Crowds of people flocked up and down, up and down the sidewalk. It was a true, mystifying quality about the whole thing. It was really something.

"Sure is. Couldn't be more perfect." Butch said, looking out with a "not bad" expression. He took a heavy sip of his coffee and nodded his head up and down.

"And they said Friday the 13th was unlucky, huh?" Rod said, reaching into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a pack of Malboro Reds, and fiddled at the paper until he pulled out a clean cigarette, placing it in his mouth. It didn't take long for him to place his coffee cup on the concrete rail and flick his Zippo enough to light a plume of ozone that spilled out into the chilly morning air around him. Rod took a few puffs and held his cigarette to the side of his leg, in-between his fingers in the typical American fashion.

"Yeah, ironic, ain't it." Butch said, also pulling something out of his pocket. It was a pack of Lucky Strikes, unfilterd. He did the same as Rod had done, and light up his oral fixation with delight.

"Though you was tryin' to quit?" Rod asked him, puffing at the butt end of the cigarette and flicking the ashes to the side.

"Eh,...ain't no use anyway. Everytime I try to quit, something happens that makes me wanna start again. It's really somethin'." Butch responded, placing his cigarette in between his lips and taking in a long inhale. He blew his smoke back out afterwards, the nicotine having filled his lungs. It gave him a certain pleasure that he could rarely find in anything else.

"So, how's your wife doin'?" Rod asked, sitting down on the third step up, carrying his coffee with him. Butch followed him and sat down next to him, as the two policeman sat and pondered on it.

"Oh, Barbara, she's doin' as good as she can, bein' pregnant and all." Butch said, sipping off a little more coffee.

"When's she due?" Rod asked back, honestly not knowing when she had even gotten pregnant.

"Sometime this month." Butch fired back, puffing again, "I don't know when though. Could be anytime. Hell, could be today. I couldn't say."

"You ready to be a dad?" Rod asked, gleaming at him.

"Oh, well, I guess it'll be great. I can't wait. I mean, we've been tryin' for so long for a kid, now that we're finally gonna have one, well, I just don't know. I'm as ready as I can be I guess." Butch said, taking in a long draw of smoke.

To be honest, he couldn't really imagine what being a father was like. It was an idea beyond his control. He didn't really have a say-so in it. But he was planning on raising his daughter right, in the best way possible. He wanted her to have the brightest future possible.

"I know you'll be a great dad. You're just dad material." Rod said, looking over at him."

"Oh, come on, me? Dad material?" Butch asked, not taking him seriously.

"Yeah man, you've got what it takes. Me? No, not me, buy you, yeah you've got it Butchy. You've got it." Rod said, pointing his finger at him.

"Thanks man, that means a lot comin' from you. But you, you'll be a great dad to." Butch said back at him.

They looked across the street at the Ford Piquette Plant, as the smoke rolled out of the top smoke stacks, ushering in yet another blue-collar day in downtown detroit. Down the street, the popular hangout "The Detroiter" was flowing with people in and out, and it would be twice as busy later tonight. Behind them, a train whistle roared as the LS&MS railroad train rolled down the tracks, and passed over the street, and the morning routine wouldn't be the same without hearing that unique clicking sound of the rusted wheels clanking on the metal rails.

Cars raced up and down, blowing piles of leaves to and fro. People on bicycles rushed along side the sidewalks, dipping and diving their way through traffic. Little kids walking on their way to school. The Eastern Market Truck stop was filling up with hungry truckers, and the Flagstar Bank was overflowing with angry workers, ready to cash their paychecks. Overall, it was the perfect Friday morning, and no one could say different.

As the two sat there, sipping their coffee and looking up and down the road, they saw a man in black coming down the sidewalk. He was a priest, and had his white tab collar showing proudly. His think black hair haid gray streaks in it, and his round glasses gleamed in the sunlight. I think we all know who this guy is.

"Well, we better get goin' inside, huh?" Rod asked, as he stood up and brushed his pants off with his hand. He flicked his cigarette off to the side and moved on.

"Yeah, but today is Friday, and I'm on my way to the weekend!" Butch said in a Frank Sinatra, sing-song fashion.

"You got that right." Rod said, holding the front door open as the two went in.

Today was truly the perfect day.


	66. Chapter LXVI

Note: I have posted a link on my profile page leading to some character sketches that I have done. I urge you as the readers to check them out. They are done in "Ed Edd n Eddy" style. Sketches include the adults, Double D's cousins, and of course Double D and Marie. If feedback is good, I will do some more.

Your author,

Shackleford.

Chapter LXVI

Walking inside the police station, everything was a bustling commotion. Of course that was pretty typical, being this is Detroit, the capital of all viloent crimes. Homocides, robbery, assualt, all very common and every day things. Butch was especially atuned to these type crimes, and dealt with them the same way a carpenter does with a piece of wood and how a mechanic treats a car. Yes sir, Butch was a master of his craft. He didn't dawddle at all with his work, and treated it with the upmost seriousness. However, Butch was a literal joker. Too smart for his own good. He was pychologically impenetrable. Mentally, he was impervious to social brainwashing. That was a major advantage, as it made him a much stronger cop.

Outside, the people were now moving right along with the pace of the city. Cars rushing along, people strolling on down the sidewalk. Everyone in a hurry, but no one knows where they're going. Funny, isn't it? It seems like everyone is in a rush to go somewhere, but no one knows where they're going. Everyone is always rush, rush rush.

The stores up and down the street where chiming the tune of of Friday. The Beaubien Street Saloon was already setting up some tables out side on the concrete sidewalk, ready to do business that day. The Filmore Theater was already starting to show early showings of movies. Braveheart was the big picture that year, and the big black lettering scaped across the front board hanging over the ticket booth. Steam rolled out of the giant smoke stacks of all the factories, letting out a white blanket that wrapped around the entire block and gave it that nice sense of blue-collar comfort that only big industry can do.

Back inside the police department, cops and the workers were running everywhere. Typewriters were going at 100 miles an hour, and coffee fueled, red-eyed journalist were everywhere with their ties untied and eyes bulging. It was a couple weeks until Halloween, and the all too famous "Devil's Night" was fast approaching. The Detroit Police Department had zero tolerance for this ridiclous night of teenage hooliganism. The previous year in 1994, $50,000 of damage had been done to the inner city. It was something to be feared, but something that had to be dealt with. The city usually hid in fear on the day before Halloween every year, when the fires raged. This year, the city was planning something different.

Butch walked past the front desk and grabbed a cup of coffee, and slid through the back door and into the long hall of offices where typewriters chinged and telephones ringed. Going down the hall, Rod caught up with Butch, and had a stack of files in his hand.

"Hey Butch, I've gotta whole heep of files you've been lookin' for for that, uh, Johnston guy." Rod said, forking over the files to him.

"Any thing good?" Butch asked, leafing through the files as best he could as he handed his coffee to Rod. The file was fairly thick, and contained a whole lot of information.

"Oh tons," Rod responded, "we found out that not only did he cut up those people, he drank their blood and ate their gallbladders."

"Damn," Butch said, making a disgusted facial expression and turning the files back over to Rod, "You know, these criminals are just like onions. The more ya peel 'em back, the more they stink!"

"Ya got that right. That guy sure is one sicko. I'd give him a fat lip if he ever came near me." Rod responded.

"Well, anymore updates?" Butch asked, as Rod handed him his coffee back.

"On what?"

"You know, 'updates.'" Butch said back, making air-quotes with his free hand.

"Oh, oh oh oh. I don't know. Mayor Archer hasn't said anything. All we know is what we've known for a month know. Not much more." Rod said as the two passed down to the end of the hall and started to go in the breakroom. They could here some loud commotion and shouting coming from it, and it sounded almost like a high school cafeteria fight.

"What the,..." Rod started as the two inched closer and closer to the end of the hall.

Butch stuck his head in and saw what was going on. Two police officers were arguing over the coffee machine.

"They better be fightin' over me in there!" Butch said with a grin as he stepped in and got inbetween the two guys who were almost ready to break out in a fist fight.

"What do ya know if it ain't Tweedledee and Tweedledum." "Now what the world is goin' on here?" Butch asked. "

"Oh, sorry sir, I mean..." one of the guys said.

"Yeah yeah yeah, save the BS for some other time..." Butch said, "What happened?"

"Oh, well, there's only one cup of coffee left, and we couldn't decide on who should get it." the other policeman said.

"Listen, you know how we settle these things..." Butch said, pointing to a sign hanging next to the coffee pot that read _Last Cup of Coffee is settled on a coin toss. _

"Well, no one had a quarter." the other said.

"Then, we go to plan B." Butch said

"What's that?" the other asked.

"I get the cup of coffee, and you all make another pot." Butch said, filling his cup up with the last of the coffee. "Now don't make me come back here." he said, walking out as he grabbed a glazed bear claw and headed out the door with Rod.

"Some mess back there, huh?" Rod asked.

"Yeah, but they're stupid. Fightin' over a cup of coffee! When does it end!" Butch resonded

"So, what are your plans for this weekend?" Rod asked, as they went up the stairs and into another hall.

"Oh, not much. Probably spendin' time with the wife. She's been buggin' me all week about how we don't spend enough time together. It's crazy." Butch said as he unlocked his office door and the two men went in. The lights were hit and came on in a snap, illuminating the old office. Butch sat down at his desk, and Rod down in the chair infront of it.

"Yeah, that's women for ya, huh?" Rod said, sipping his coffee."

"Yeah,..." Butch responded, also sipping his coffee.

It was now about, oh,...9:30 or so in the morning, and the clouds had rolled back in over the desolate and bustling city streets. The sun was waning as the day passed on, and on. Butch's job was mostly a desk job, paper work and techincal stuff. But he enjoyed his duty as a desk jockey. He had had his ass in the grass plenty of times. He couldn't say that he like it much. No, his present duties kept him where he belonged: in the rear with the gear.

About eleven o'clock, one of the other officers can running into Butch's office, looking like he had just ran the Boston Marathon. Sweat was dripping down his face and his hair was in a big mess. He was heavily out of breath, and his panting wheezed in and out.

"What the world is goin' on?" Butch demanded, rising up from his seat and leaning over the desk.

"It's your wife on line one, she doesn't sound happy." the guy said, holding the door open as Butch got up and headed toward him as fast as he could the moment he heard the word "wife" mentioned. That word took on multiple meanings to him. It was more than just what it seemed. Wife was not just a word. It was her. It was the image of her. Her of course being Barbara. The woman that he was meant to be with until the end of time. The minute he had any reason to doubt her security, it was high tide for him.

"I'll be right down..." Butch said as he ran through the doorway and down the hall, down the stairs, and into the dispatch office, where the main phone line was located. The area was a mess of papers and wires, and the whole thing looked like it hadn't been updated and renivated since 1954. He immediatley ran over to the phone, picking it up and putting the recieve into his ear. He listened to voice on the other end. Everyone that knew of the commotion was gatherd round, listening in like the nosey busy-bodies they were and are. It was almost like Butch could get no privacy whatsoever.

"Hello?" he said, even though he knew exactly who it was on the other line.

"You need to get here quick!" the other voice growled through bits of screams and groans. Butch was a little terrified at this, as it was something that he had not heard ever before. Ever before.

"What's goin' on?" Butch demanded, not knowing what the heck was going on.

"I'm in labor!" the other voice, Barbara obviously at this point, yelled over the other end. Remember kids, this was back when phones were on cords, so Butch accidently dropped the phone out of his hands at this sudden burst of tone and it dangled off the wall by the swirly cord. He didn't really know why he had dropped the phone. It was possibly by accident, however it was mostly due to shock not only because of the subject matter, but also because of the tone of voice she had used. He didn't know if she was at the hospital, or at the house, or neither. This whole capsule of mystery sorrounded him. He knew so little, but was to gain so much by this one phone call.

"In labor, okay." he said, in an almost non-chalaunt tone, almost not even really giving his comment the thought of repose, when suddenly his toughts raced back to him. "IN LABOR?" he asked.

At this, many of the people that had gathered around the phone conversation now returned to whatever it was that they were doing before the conversation ever took place. They had gotten their details, and most of them were unenthused by them.

Rod however was juxted by this conversation, and went over to Butch as soon as he had hung up the phone.

"Congradulations buddy, glad for ya!" Rod said, patting his good friend on the back with is palm.

"Yeah yeah, that's great, but I've gotta get goin' Rod. Uh, just cover my shift for me while I'm gone, will ya?" Butch asked, slipping his jacket on and heading toward the front door, ready to go out to head for his car.

"Yeah, sure, no problem." Rod said, following the rushing Rutch out the door. He stuck his head out the door as his friend went out and up the sidewalk toward the parking area.

"There goes one lucky man." Rod said, following Butch with eyes for several more seconds, before the wind finally brought his head back in the door.

Butch hoped in his police car and headed for the hospital with his lights on. This was the first time he had ever abused his power, and he didn't even approve of it now. But he had to be there as quickly as possible. This was one call of duty that he simply could not ignore. He whipped out and danced his way through traffic, on his way for the birth of a daughter.

Half a league, half a league, half a league onward!


	67. Chapter LXVII

Just a note to some of my British readers, I am about to tear into some kippers right now. Believe me, if I had some tea I would drink it! Anyway,...

Chapter LXVII

Going about 10 miles per hour over the speed limit, Butch swerved up and down Beaubien Street, on his way to Harper University Hospital. He dipped throught the heavy lunch-time traffic, of course the very same traffic that clogs any city's streets when 11:30 rolls around. Especially on a Friday, when everyone has their pay check as is eager to spend it. Of course, this was back before the American recession, so everyone had plenty of money. In fact, this was one of the most prosperous times in American History. Plenty of jobs, no wars, and no worries. A caricture of American life at its finest. You can't get much better that that.

Butch honestly didn't know what to think right now. For one, he was far too busy worrying about traffic and not getting killed to worry about anything else. And two, he didn't know quite how to think about it. It was something that didn't really fit into his head right now. And with such sudden shock, would it be able to fit into anybodies? I mean, sure, he had had, oh, what, 9 months to think about it. But still, enough time can never prepare you for when that event acutally happens. It's sudden. It's breathtaking. No one, and I mean no one can train themselves enough for that one moment. I have, of course, never been in any of these situations. But I can tell you from observation that absolutely under any circumstances is anybody ever prepared.

He sweeped by and passed the Peter Clavar Career Training Center, and saw plenty of people going in and out of the building. Further down was the Goldfarb Bonding building, as well as plenty of other downtown stores and factories. The street was alive with the sound of labor. The lunch rush was getting heavier and heavier the further Butch went down the road, and the thicker the action got. He could feel that proverbial and almost literal time clock ticking away, following him and replaying in his head everytime he went further, and further, and further on. He could almost feel as if a bomb was going to go off if he didn't do something about. It was almost a race against time, but not really.

Harper University Hospital was just off of Beaubien Street, way behind the main road and back behind the frontage road, leading up to the interstate. Basically all Butch had to do was take the next streat over, Mack Avenue, and cross over onto John R Street. Since the streets were laid out like a grid for the most part, navigation was fairly easy and simple. Street signs were abundant, and Butch had lived there all his life. He could remember as a kid himself, roaming the back allies of inner city. Now, don't get me wrong her, Butch was, by no means, a bad kid at all. In fact, he was a really decent kid. But he was a joker, and was always one step ahead of the rest of the city. It's almost if he knew when something was gonna happen. Maybe that's what made him such a good cop. It wasn't really premonitions, yet it was in a way a sort of connection he had with other people. It made him a great leader. He could figure out situations much more quickly and much more easily than most other people. He had almost this Radar quality that allowed him to figure people out. This trait would be passed down in greatness to his only daughter.

When he pulled up John R Street and parked his car on the curb (being a police officer, and the assistant commander). The hospital was a large brown brick building which commanded authority on campus. It was a teaching hospital, specializing in cancer research. It was one of the most advanced hospitals in the state, and possibly even the country. It certainly was the most popular in the city. It was one of the largest buildings in that particular area of the city, commanding a large presence. Everything, from it's streaming brown bricks, all perfectly laid within the mortar, all around with the enlongated black tinted windows, which shrouded the entire building with a blanket of darkness and mystery. They added a certain bold touch to the entire hospital. And what odds, as everything about the soon to be daughter would be a bold touch. If it was one word, one set of letters and pronounciation that could singulary and perfectly describe both Butch and his daughter, it would be bold. It takes a sound mind and a clear soul to be able to hold the construct, the stability that Butch and his daughter would exhibit. Was Butch the sharpest knife in the drawer? Most likely not. Although he was very quick thinking. It was that characteristic that set him apart from most other people. He just wasn't some cut-from-the-cloth blended in everyday person. He had rationality. He had quick thinking. It was that that earned him number two spot on one of the largest police forces in the country. He could win the entire chess game without even moving a piece. He was done with the game before it even started.

Butch was quick on his feet to run toward the child birth center (for the life of me I can't remember what they're called), which was on the other side of the Detroit Medical Center, located in the Hutzel Women's Hospital. It wasn't a long walk though. For even though there were always crowded people within the halls of the place and the outside pavilions, being a police officer has its merits, and Butch was able to dip and dive through the huddled masses with general ease. He had just hoped he wasn't too late. this was one moment of his life that he didn't want to miss for anything. The birth of a daughter. The birth of a character.

Running through the front door and up among the front desk waiters, Butch used his policeman style authority, and, well, pushed everyone out of the way. It was part of his formal training, and well, he just liked to knock innocent people around sometimes. But now it was more important than ever. Now it was actually for something he needed to get to, not just fun and games.

"Excuse me officer, can I help you?" the nurse at the front desk asked, obviously jeered by his sudden burst through the crowd. He was moving faster than Michael Moore locked in a Krispy Kreme store. And just as excited. At first she looked at him as though he was just an ordinary cop, possibly and probably looking for some criminal who was seeking sanctuary inside the hospital. Little did she know of Butch, the joker.

"Oh, I'm lookin' for my wife." he said. Everyone turned to look, believing that his wife was a criminal.

"Is she in trouble?" the nurse asked, with a look of bizzarity and pecularity.

"Oh, oh no, no, no! Well, maybe,...but not with the law. She's in labor, and I need to know which room she's in. She just called me, and I had to leave work to come here." he said, leaning over onto the desk. Butch was a very tall man, about 6'5". He was also quite lankey, and didn't ever know what to do with his arms when he wasn't using them to handcuff some criminal.

The nurse peered at his blue nametag that clung to his jacket, It read "Leary" in all capital letters. She could recognize that name right off, and checked the very primative (by today's standards) PC computer for that name, a name which she had heard before.

"Okay Officer, she's in room 217, right down the hall." the nurse said, peering back up at him and away from the computer screen.

"Alright, thank you ma'am, but how do I get there?" he asked. He truly did not know where to go, as this was the first time he had been to this part of the hospital, and couldn't navigate himself out of a wet paper bag around this place.

"Oh, just through that door, down the hall, and you'll find your way after that. It's near the end of the hall, right next to the coffee maker." The nurse said, pointing to the door that was right next to the front desk.

"Okay, thanks." Butch said, tipping his hat to her in an almost cliche 1930's esque fashion. Something we'd expect to see more in a Humphrey Bougart film than in real life. And if you did see it in real life, you would probably doubt its sincerity anyway.

Regardless of old fashion hat-tipping or not, Butch swung around and went through that very same door, never mind the specifics of it. It was just a door, and I know you expect me to go into great detail about what the door is made of, what the door does, what color it is, and how many times it's been opened.

It's just a door...

Going through the door was more important. It is the actual action that is being emphasized here. That is the importance of this door. It's more than what it seems. But I'll let you be the judge of that.

Either way, he did indeed go through the door and into the hallway. That blank, soundless, sightless hallway. If you have fears of hospitals, now would be that time to execute that fear. That long, white hallway, those bright florescent lights that flickered oh so carefully in the still dullness of it all. It was quiet,...too quiet... It was almost a quietness that demanded reason. As if a hospital hallway needs a reason to be quiet. But this hallway did. It was just too good to be true. It was almost as if, as if something had been frozen in time. As if nothing was moving, yet nothing stopping. If one could take a snapshot of a particular scene in this story so far, what would we compare this with? A certain yellow post it note so gently falling from the open window down to the floor of a suicidal manic-depressed lover? It was that same sense of time warping. As if without reason, this whole scene had been slowed down to a frame-by-frame stillness. If one could slow down time to a frame-by-the minute time line, this would be the result. It is moments like this that make time stop short of reality. Because for someone to really capture the memory in vivid detail, one has to stop time itself to lock it into their mind. A freeze frame, if you like.

Down the hall, at that door. That door that read 217, or 237 is Stanley Kubrick is making the movie version. A single door that symbolized much more than just a piece of wood and metal. It was a gateway to a new life for both Butch and Barbara. It was a new future. A new chapter in the same story. Butch honestly didn't know what to expect. To be completely blunt, does anybody?

Twisting the knob, Butch was also twisting reality. He was twisting his own future with the tumblers of that very door handle that went into that hospital room. It was something that almost shocked him too much to do anything, though, in the moment, completely captured him.

With a flash of reality, he opened the door to see magic before him. He would have liked to fall to his knees with pure over-joyous rapture and joy. He looked upon the face of his wife, Barbara, and his newborn daughter. He fell to his knees with nothing but enraptured revelry. Words were not enough here. Vocalization would have just ruined this whole scene with meaningless babble. Actions not only speak louder than words, they feel louder than words. Barbara simply grinned at him with that same grin only coupled years later by her second daughter, who captured that same grin with a passionate replica. That grin could speak a thousand words in a thousand languages.  
Just add love.

"Surprise, surprise, huh?" Barbara asked him, still with that same pulchritudinous and angelic grin as if to summon God's blessing onto all who were gathered in that room, as if to make some gratifying point of something or other.

"I,...I...I,...I don't know what to say, I mean, I..." Butch said, not finding a word in the English language suited enough to even remotely describe what was happening here right now, in this hospital room. It simply wasn't possible, for him or Barbara both. It was just, whoa.

"You don't have to say anything," Barbara told him, reflecting to him that same grin, which was turning into more of a enamoured smile, "All you have to do is feel."

Feel. Feel. That word shoud have taken on new meaning to us all at this point in the story. It is more than just a verb. It is the definition of all that is. And what it is is love.

Butch simply inhaled sharply and went over to the hospital bed. In it laid his wife and his new daughter. This daughter was a piece of him, forever implanted into this world. She was every bit of him as well. From the red hair all the way to the pentagonal shaped cranium. It was all there. This child was unapproachabley quiet. Not just silent, but completely quiet. She simply just breathed in and out, in and out. Never had they seen such a calm and stable child, as if the child was already one with itself. It would later prove to be one of her most prevelent qualities.

"Well, what do ya think?" Barbara asked him.

"Oh, she's amazing. The most beautiful baby I've ever seen. And so quiet. Wow." Butch said, as he took the young babe up in his arms and craddled her so gently. It was practically an out of body experience, as though he was looking down at himself from some window beyond his understanding. It was a piece of him, in his arms. And though he would leave this earth much sooner than he would have expected, his soul would be carried on forever and ever with this,...his child.

"Alright, now for the name..." Barbara said. They had spent months deciding on a name, and had finally come to a conclusion just a few weeks ago.

"Well, you came up with Barbara. And I came up with Lee. So how about Barbara Lee." Butch said, looking into the eyes of the child that was his only. Her deep blue eyes were just so captivating to him.

"So, Barbara Lee it is." Barbara said, smiling at the new baby Lee as Butch handed her back to her.

Now, the name Lee. What is it about. Well, simply going off of facts, Lee, in Old English, means "shelter from the storm." And just that Lee would be in her life. A constant shelter for her two sisters. That place of refuge, that place of comfort. When life's winds and thunder put them down and made them scared, Lee would be there to protect them and nuture them. It was practically her instinct, and she was the shelter for her sisters to go when they needed someone to care. Someone to love.

Now, we can also look at the name in more,...metaphorical sense. Lee comes very close in proximity to the word "lead." And Lee would do that very action her entire life. She would step up to the home plate of life and take three strikes from reality. But the more she played the game, the more she moved from player to coach. She was the only one who would be able to take control over her sisters, and give them this almost authority to look up to. Though Lee is not the best role model for the ideal life, she certainly tried her best with what she had. There will be more explanation, but think about it. What lies behind a name? The person, or the person we think the person is? There is no easy way of knowing.

So there sat the nice, lovely family. Together, for that short period of time. Nothing but love could be felt. It was practically overwhelming, for it just poured out of the souls of Barbara and Butch. It was there all right, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

For when love lies burning, what can douse the flame?  
For truly love's burning glow no one can tame.


	68. Chapter LXVIII

Two pots of coffee, a can of sardines, two movies, and hours of deep thinking later, this chapter was born...

Chapter LXVIII

There probably couldn't be a happier family in all of the nation at this point. It was just,...so characteristic of the time. A working husband, a stay-at-home mother of a new born child, and the new baby. That baby of course being little Lee. That prodical daughter if there ever was one. There was something underlying and magical about this whole situation. It was almost as if this family was destined to be this happy. Both parents had been through so much and struggled through so much. Pulled through the storm of life. This never ending storm we call life. Rarely do any of us actually sit down to ponder how we get through life. Certainly most if not all my readers are in your 20s. We have been through a lot in our life, though we haven't lived very long at all. Interesting isn't it, the fact that none of us really know what suffering is. Suffering is life without comfort. Suffering is simply living life with no help from anything else. Suffering does not know anything of a good life. But suffering is necesarry in order to achieve a good life. We must truly understand every aspect of life to understand life. Only then can we really understand what it truly means to take on empathy for someone. This is what Double D was so very capaible of doing. Empathy, it seems as though it's something that cannot be achieved by the simplest of men, and yet so many people are in need of the touch of someone's empathy for them. I can guarantee you that there is someone you know in your life who is in need of you empathy. Not your sympathy. Believe me, they don't need your sympathy. They have engaged in self-sympathy all their lives. That person will not be reassured by someone's pity for them. Pity is not something that will help their situation in the least bit. I am sure someone down the line felt some pity for the Kanker family. But empathy, empathy is what a suffering person needs. For them to feel like you know what they are feeling, gives them the hope that if you can carry on, they can carry on. If you can survive the storm of life, so can they. They feel that confidence to move on. That _purpose_ to move on. Barbara felt that purpose through her own daughters. Even if she didn't have reason to move on, they did. They deserved that oppurtunity to do better. And she was robbing them of a good life if she didnt' let them gain access to a meaningful life. A life that she had so desperately tried to forge for herself. She did not want her children to be doomed to repeat that same cycle of tornados that she herself was doomed to for the rest of her life. However, she herself didn't realized the bonding power of the love that would soon come into their lives vice-a-vice Double D. It was that love which set into stone any doubt that could have surfaced due to anything in their past. That gloom had gone out of the door with everything else negative it seems. More on that later though. Now on to the story.

It was now early December, never mind the exact day. Never mind the exact time. That is all non-important now. What is important are the events that are going to take place over the next couple of days. These events will solidify and propose the future of the Kankers forever. They will forecast the tale that would become more than just a story that we went over back, what, 40 chapters ago? That's acient history compared to now. Now is the time we have to buck up to the reality of things. Now we have to rip those proverbial covers off of this sugar-coated reality we have. No more recounting. No more retelling. We are going to go where no story has ever gone before. Yes, we are going to go to that very event which shaped a family for 15 years. That very event which set the future for a family so down on their luck that they can never seem to catch a break. That family which seems so necesarry of even the slightest feeling of compassion and understanding. But hopefully all those axes will soon be buried. For one woman, one family cannot take but so much. It has to come to a point where everything flows downhill. There has to be that point, that point of no return. That point where that veil of unapproachable night comes. That seemingly never ending night.

As I have said, it was December. Oh, good old December. That whole month is just one big celebration. Now, of course we all know what happens in December. At least in Western culture, we celebrate Christmas. Now, of course, Christmas means many things for many people. Here in America, it is just one big corporate sellout, where we are pummeled with advertisements concerning everything from new cars all the way up to health insurance, and everything in between. Christmas, for all intents and purposes, is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Now, I am not trying to offend my non-believing readers, whoever you may be, but I have to harken on the fact that Christmas is probably the most holy of all times. There just seems to be this unifying force for everyone. It seems that for that one month, that one time of year, we can all put our differences aside to be happy. To see life as not just an intermediate process, but as a unique journey in which we can take joy in with others. Most of us know Christmas as the day when, as a child, you wake up to presents under the tree, and candy in your stocking. We spend all of our time as children maticulously planning what we want for Christmas, and what we really, really want. Dealing with the anticipation of it all. The waiting, the anexity. It can be too much sometimes. But the pacience is rewarding, as we all just love the Christmas season. Even our Scrooge's in the auidence have to admit, that Christmas is a very unique time of year. It almost begs this sense of childhood forgoten. It is that one time of the year were, it's okay to be a kid again. We can all revel in that joy of peace and love that is shared at Christmas. For the greatest gift is love, and I think we are very well aware of that at this point.

It was December 5th, 1995. The first Christmas for our favorite little family that we have come to love so much. It was Christmas time in the city of Detroit. Such a magical time for this little ciity. In the residential streets, specifically the little street we have come to know as West Parkland Street, where our family inhabits. It was these little neighborhoods where where the real spirit of Christmas lives. It was winter, and personally my favourite time of year. Kids of all ages were ouside, enjoying the treat that winter always brought them. Snow. It had already fallen in abundance. Six inches infact. And it was still rapidly pouring. Lake effect snow, you have to love it. It was being called for all week and next week as well. Snow, probably the purest thing we can ever witness before us. It takes that snow to show us just why we love it so much. Personally, I can't speak for my American readers in the South or west, or especially my non-European readers, but I live in the state of Virginia, and we always recieve snow every winter, and almost always at Christmas time. It is almost like the two go together. Almost as if they're meant together. Both so pure, so simple. They bring the best of memories out of us. It truly is a magical thing, this Christmas season. And here we sit, in August, talking about Christmas. Still, here we are.

It was now around four in the afternoon, December 5th. Kids of all ages were outside frollocking in the vast snow that stretched over this little neighborhood like a giant blanket. The very young kids were out just simply rolling around in it, making snow angels and sliding around. The slightly older kids were out busy with themselves, rolling up big big balls of snow to make into giant snowmen to display proudly in their yards. Their accomplishments only out-done by their friend up and down the street, as slowly but surely a small snow village was begininning to take shape. The same aged kids were also slipping and slidding up and down the street in their wooden snow sleds, their metal blades cutting through the white powder with much agility and grace, as though it was almost with exact perciscion. And the still older kids were busy engaging in their mock wars, as snow balls flied and forts were assembled. Little balls of white matter were slung back and forth over yards of white snow, as the dueling kids raged into full-scale conflict. This was when being a kid ment being a kid. This was before this age of superficiality and pseudo-maturity came to our youth. This was back when you could actually go outside and have a good-ole time with your friends. Good clean fun, what happened to it? It seems like it has vanished today, as if by design. Kids need to get their minds out of the iPod and enjoy childhood for what it's really worth. Because you'll have all the time in the world for petty technology. You're only a kid once, might as well get in all the fun while you can.

_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,  
Everywhere you go,...  
Take a look in the five and ten,  
whistlin' one again,  
With candy canes and silver lanes a glow..._

_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,  
Toys in every store.  
But the prettiest sight to see,  
is the holly that will be on  
your own, front, door..._

Down at our favorite residence, our family resided, happy as could be. Just off of work was Butch, the new patriarch of this family. He was out on the sidewalk, having changed into more winter-friendly attire, shoveling the mountains of snow that fell from above. It was a little back-breaking, but it simply wouldn't be Christmas without a snow shovel in one hand and melting salt in the other. Well, for me and a lot of people anyway. Shoveling snow, back and forth, back and forth. When you get into the rythym of it, it's not so hard. You just have to do it at a good pace, like our good friend Butch here. But of course he was a hard working induvidual anyway, so it didn't bother him in the slightest. The only thing that did was the temperature. It was already twenty degrees outside (Farenheit of course) and was dropping at an alarming pace as the sun was slowly starting to sink below the horizon, not that it did any good with the warming process anyway. It was more just decoration than anything in the winter months. And I can tell you as a product of freezing cold winters, the cold is much more breath taking than the heat. Though I cannot wait to return to ten degree temperatures myself.

"Darn, is it cold out here, or is it just me?" Butch said as he rubbed his gloved hands together, and as he spoke, the steam just rolled out as if he was a smoke stack for one of the factories in town. He was quite bundled up, and his winter appearence could rival that of Steve Irwin on a round trip to Antarctica. He was very, very use to this brutal cold though, as are all of us in the upper corner of the United States and Europe. This was nothing new to him, and he treated snow shoveling as almost a hobby of his. That is the major reason he refused to upgrade to a snow blower. It would take all the fun away from it in his mind.

As soon as he had finished clearing the sidewalk, after hours and hours of work. Okay, it was more like thirty minutes, but it sure felt like hours, especially out in this weather. It was now about five o'clock, and the sun was nearing it's zenith in the horizon, getting ready for it's long slumber until the next morning. Of course, more snow clouds just came in behind it, with six more inches in the forecast. But that was alright though, for our favourite family had everything they needed: love.

"Honey, you finished yet?" Barbara asked as she stuck her head out of the door. She wasn't about to expose her full self out to the elements, as the wind ws starting to pick up, and was knocking the temperature down even faster. It was approacing night time fast, and was getting colder and colder by the minute.

"Yeah, just got done." he called out, lifting up his shovel and brushing any of the excess snow off with his gloved hand. He was fully ready to go inside and out of this cold, desolate climate. It was starting to get to him, and the warm glow of the house was enough to make him put his shovel up and step up to the concrete stoop and kick off his snow boots. He wiped his socks on the doormat several times, though, he didn't know why. Force of habit most likely, if anything else would be an explanation.

His wife greeted him with a welcoming and inviting hug and a nice little peck on the lips kiss. His blue and frosty lips locked with her warm and tender lips, and the two shared a nice little kiss there in the doorway to this house of dreams.

"Cold out there, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so. That's winter though. You never truly understand cold until you live here, huh?" he replied, as the two quickly came back into the house, closing and locking the front door, keeping that cold and nippy air outside where it belongs. He took off his thick winter coat and stocking cap, and neatly placed them on the coat rack next to the door. Looking into the vibrant manor, he could see the slight crackling glow of the fireplace, radiating from within the living room. The flames danced off of he walls, in an almost picture-esque Norman Rockwell scene. The smell of vegetable stew and hot chocolate whipped in from down the hall in the kitchen. Those signature smells of winter. And how both of those items warm up our frigid soul this time of year. Nothing like a piping hot bowl of soup and a nice warm cup of hot chocolate to keep the heart warm and cozy when you look out the winter pained window.

Butch wandered into the glowing living room which he had only dreamt of seeing while he was outside putting his work to good use. The whole scene was almost too good to be true. The fireplace was aglow with a crackling blaze radiating both heat and light that filled the whole room up with a certain ambiance that can't be replicated by anything. The Christmas tree, all sparkling and green, was in the corner of the room inbetween the fireplace and window. The multi-colored lights dazzled it's ver core as they illuminated the soft ball ornanments that hung from it's delicate green branches. The star on top was a bright gold color that joined the fire in that dance of eligance and beauty. The stockings, so carefully hung on the fireplace, three of them. One for each member of the family. The newest one being for the little angel Lee. Hers was in the very center, and gave a breath of new life into the entire picture. The nativity scence, a beautiful center piece of which was made out of beautiful hand glazed porcelean, was at the very center of the mantle, and the candles that wrapped around it cracked a flickering light onto the smooth and reflecting white surface. It could capture any emotion with in itself, and held far more symbolism than I can even truly imagine.

Out the window of course was the beautiful white snow, which was now continuing to fall rapidly. The sun had gone down now, and the snow was left to pile up in the dense darkness. The frost gathered around the panels of the old bay windown, though, was melted soon by the warm glow of the interior.

Of course, what would this scene be without our favorite baby Lee. She was in a small crib right next to the sofa, and giggled and cooed at the crackling fire as Butch walked over to her. Peering down into the small little play crib, he smiled at his only daughter. He had never seen such a happy and mobile baby ever. In fact, he could even remember a time when she cried. Only the laughter. He looked down into this crib and saw more than his child. He saw a piece of himself, looking back at him. And though he probably wouldn't ever truly understand the reasoning behind that, it is certainly nothing to shy away from.

"Hey there little princess, you ready for Christmas?" he asked her in the most serious baby talk ever imagined. It would be almost like Ben Stein voicing one of the Rugrats. It simply presented itself as akwkard in every sense of the word, but was cute nonetheless. The baby Lee could do nothing but giggle and coo back at him. It was almost too much. He had had two months to adjust to it, and yet it was still very amounting to him in every way possible.

As he stood looking at the little baby Lee, he could hear the footsteps of his wife approaching from behind him. He turned around to see her with their bowls of supper and their piping hot cups of hot chocolate. He couldn't help but smile at her, because he was starving, and the one thing that he could use was a hot bowl of soup.

"Here you go..." Barbara said as she handed him his bowl of soup and mug of chocolate. She took hers as the two went over to the couch beside the baby Lee and infront of the crackling fire. There was nothing but love that glowed in this room. Nothing but it. It was something that Butch and Barbara hoped would last their entire lives. They hoped that this would be their future forever and ever. Waking up everyday feeling the same way that they did now. It was a feeling of revelry and happiness. It was that special feeling that would reawaken years later with Barbara's second daughter and her boyfriend.

"Now listen Barbara. Down at the station, we've got somethin' comin' up. Somethin' kinda big. And I just want you to know that if anything happens to me, that it is all for you and Lee." Butch said, tearing off a piece of bread and putting it in his mouth. He gave the other piece to Barbara, and she also ate it.

"What are you talking about?" she asked him. His structured sentence gave her little room for comfort. She could only tell that he was talking about something beyond their control. She was fairly frightened by his frantic display, that sort of came out of nowhere. In a way, it did.

"What I mean is that I have a dangerous task ahead of me. And if I have to lay my life down in the line of duty, I would rather it be for the protection of you and Lee than anyone else. That is what is important to me. My blood will drip for no one else but you guys." he said, almost in a quasi-philisophical quotation. But there was no Plato here. It was simply him speaking from the emotions that almost plagued him to the point of realization. After his statement, he took a long gulp of his hot chocolate.

"Oh come on Butch, you can't be serious. You're just talkin' crazy talk..." Barbara said, shuffling off Butch's statement almost as if he was being sarcastic about the whole thing. But was he?

"I'm sure you'll doubt me plenty of times in the future. But when duty calls, I have to go. And tonight is no different." he said, getting up from the sofa. He placed his empty dishes on the floor beside him, as he got up and headed toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Barbara asked him, looking at him with the most scared and worrysome eyes imaginable.

"Don't worry. I'll see you soon. I'll probably be back before you know it." he said, going down the hall and toward the bedroom.

While he was in there, Barbara could almost feel this,...this feeling of doubt. She didn't know whether to take him seriously or not. Was he really being thoughtful, or was this just another on of his little jokes that he loved to pull on everybody from time to time. Butch was just your average, everyday jokester. Most of the time he didn't have a shred of seriousness inside him. He was just a loving, caring guy with a big personality. He just loved life too much.

Coming back in, Butch stood in the door way, tying his tie with his hand. He looked on with a blank stare. A stare of worrysome anexity. His face was pale and fragile. The face that carried a thousand words. A thousand worries. A thousand problems. He had honestly no thought of himself, but of his family. He just stood there, finishing up his tie and tightening it up into his neck the best way he could, securing the tie clip down on his shirt, keeping the smooth black tie in place. His eyes peered beyond. It was almost as if he had the thousand yard stare. A stare where a person is so heavliy persued into situational analysis, that they look beyond the planes of existance. They look beyond the picture and to the frame. They look beyond the painting and into the canvas. You look beyond life, beyond doubt. Beyond fear...

He continued to stare into the apex of his current life. The memories he had. The dreams he had. He couldn't quite come to terms with reality. It was almost as if something was tugging at his sleeve, forcing him back into reality. Or maybe he was just now going into reality, and what he had been in was just a sugar-coated version of what he considered his life. Maybe so, I can't make that call. Maybe you can.

In his other hand Butch had something balled up in his fist. An object that could not immediately be identified as an object of detail. It looked almost like a piece of computer paper balled up. And then it looked almost like a stuffed animal. What ever it was, he took and stuck it into his back pocket, as he glided across the carpet and toward the crib that sat beside the sofa in the living room. Each step following the last in an almost out of body phantom approach. It was almost too much for him mentally to cope with this. It was almost too much emotionally for him to carry in his mind. But he knew it must be done. He would never be able to rest his soul if he knew there was one last thing left for him to worry about. It must be done. His mind would never relieve him if he didn't.

He looked down and saw his baby daughter Lee. She was so young. Not yet three months old. Her little pentagonal shaped head was covered in curly little red hairs that stretched around her ears. She was just such a happy baby. And she had every right to be. She was with the most perfect family there probably ever had been in America. There was nothing but love for her. She sat in her crib, playing with a few of the little toys that she had gotten over the course of the last two and a half months. She banged around a few woooden letter blocks as she cooed and gooed.

Butch looked down at her, and all her infantile happiness. He couldn't help but smile and hold back so much emotion that was just begging on its hands and knees to come out. But he had to hold it in. He had to be strong for her, his daughter.

He continued to look down at her, and her vibrant and youthful little face. The emotions were building and building more and more with every second that passed by. He reached down and grabbed her up in his hands. As he lifted her up, the baby Lee giggled and gooed just as if happiness was the only feeling she knew at that time in her infantism. Butch smiled as he craddled her in his arms, and the laughing smile that the baby Lee reflected back to him was something that he could only hope to be able to replicate and give back to her, even though she probably wouldn't understand what was going on. He tickeled her belly and made her shriek with happiness, as the rubbed her head with his large, calliced hand. She simply looked back with that same smile that she always gave. This filled Butch with nothing but happiness as he smiled back with the largest ear to ear smile he could. But then he remembered what he was doing. He brought his free hand around and reached around to his back pocket, pulling out that item that he had brought with him. He unraveled it out of the little pocket, and brought it back around to the front of him.

It was his white Navy salior cap, something he cherished more than just about any of his possessions. He practically considered it his life. He kept it in a case in the bedroom, and proudly displayed it with much valor.

Butch took the cap and placed it on his daughters small, little head. Of course the cap was much too big, and pretty much swallowed her head whole. But it was something that he couldn't ignore doing. She giggled and laughed at the cap on her head, even though she didn't know at the time, he was passing on his life to her. As he put it on her head, he again rubbed his hand around it, and patted it a couple times. as he still craddled her, he looked into her little blue eyes and only thoughts passsed his mind.

"Merry Christmas little angel." he said, as he leaned and pecked her on her little cheeck with his lips.

"Daddy loves you so much, and wants you to know that he'll care about you always, no matter what. I'll always be with you, no matter where I am. And don't you forget that. My life is in your life." he said as he grabbed the little baby in a deep hug of paternal love. He had to breathe shaply to keep his emotions from running down his face. He continued to hug her, not wanting to let go. It would be too much if he did. But eventually, of course he did.

He let her down softly and set her back in the crib, with the sailor cap still positioned on her head. She looked like one of Popeye's nephews to be honest. She just giggled and laughed some more, for she enjoyed all the attention that she had recieved from him.

Butch leaned over the crib and looked down at her once more from above. He would get used to looking at her from this postion for the rest of her life.

He looked down and gave her a half smile as she looked up at his face with her little blue eyes. Then it happened. The baby Lee and her father Butch locked eyes. The baby Lee stared into her father's worried and scared blue eyes. Even though she was an infant, even though she knew pretty much nothing, she could tell that something was gravely wrong. Something was out of place. But either way the picture was taken, from which ever angle it is chosen from, they looked into each other. Baby Lee could not help but get lost in his eyes. She made no noices. She made no movements. She just sat there, looking up into him. Her face had no expression. The more Butch saw into her, the more his emotions were pulled out of him.

A single teardrop of emotion squeezed out of Butch's eye, and dripped around his eyelid and down off of his pupil. The tear ran down the side of his cheeck-bone, and dangled there for a few moments before it fell down to his shoulder and left a solitary droplet stain on his shoulder. The streak was still visible on his face as the Baby Lee looked at it with troubled eyes.

Butch simply leaned in to her and wiped a little at his cheeck, for the tear stain stung him like a thousand knives going into him at once.

"Daddy loves you." he said, almost in a whisper that was more powerful than the loudest scream from the tallest mountain. "And he always will."

Those words could not withhold anymore emotion. She looked into his eyes still, and wandered in them, as without reason. Even though she was an infant, that last stare into her father's eyes would have the lasting impact on Lee for the rest of her life. She would never be able to see things or people the same way again. Once she grew enough hair to do so, she always used it to cover her eyes. And she would never be able to look at things in the same light again. She wanted her eyes to cover her hair because she wanted that last look into her father's eyes to be the last thing that ever reflected her watery pupils. She never wanted anyone else to see that emotion that was captured with in that exchange of feelings. She never wanted to look into another eye unless it was his.

He blew her a kiss and stepped away from the crib. His emotions could no longer be hid. The tears started to flow from his worried eyes as he put his hand to his chin, trying to capture this moment as best he could. He sniffled back as many tears as he could, trying to find his mind again. But it was lost in the sea of his emotions.

Barbara walked into the room and placed her hands on his shoulder, and wiped away some of the tears with her hand and patted him on the arm.

"It's gonna be okay Butch. It's gonna be okay." Barbara said as she turned him around and looked into his eyes.

"I know, I know." he said with a smile as he started to put his arms around her. The two embraced each other and kissed that last final time.

"Barbara," he said, looking into her pupils with his own, "I love you more than anything. And I always will. My love for you will never die." he said, smiling, as he turned around and grabbed his coat and hat. He fastened them on as he looked at her with a smile and started to go out the door. Barbara looked back at him and said "I love you too Butch. More than anything."

He looked at her with intent, and walked out of the door, into the snow, and closing it behind him.

Inside the living room, in the crib beside the sofa, was the Baby Lee. She watched her father leave the door and go outside, and followed his every movement with her little eyes. She would forever want that image to be before her, so she simply grew her hair to never see anything else.

In her crib, with the sailor hat on, she just sat, silent and emotionless. It is almost impossible for a baby to react this way, but apparently Lee was this exception.

And you'll never believe me if I told you, but those three wooden alphabet blocks that laid beside her, well they sat there and spelled out "DAD" side by side.


	69. Chapter LXIX

Disclaimer:  
This chapter contains graphic and mature material that might not be suitable for younger auidences. This chapter will include a scene where a violent murder will be described in detail. If you at all feel nervous reading such scenes, you have been warned.

There is also a warning about language. I am not a fan of using course and vulgar language in stories, but this chapter will include more than one curse word (not from the kids of course, they're not even in this chapter).

Reader descretion is advised.

Shackleford.

Chapter LXIX

_Silent night... _

_Holy night..._

_All is calm... _

_All is bright..._

Butch was not easy going as he exited the door to the house. Outside, the snow was beginning to pile up from hours of steady persipitation. Accumulation was reaching near fourteen inches, and rising. The snow stretched across the entire neighborhood and was rising up along the gentile slopes of the street. Street plows had already come through with their large blades and scraped away any real snow that was present on the street, though, it still didn't seem like a lot. There were still at least four inches at best on the pavement, making driving conditions almost a joke. But Butch had the advantage of not only having a great car but chains on his tires as well. Anyone in the United States that lives in the northeastern/mideasten corridor should also be able to understand that just about everyone has chains that they put on their tires to be able to drive a lot more effeciently in the snow. Not only does it put a little more traction on, it adds a little more overall support, especially in this packed and thick wet snow. It was necesarry, however, for this night just could not be overlooked. It was fate that called, and destiny that left a message after the beep.

*beep*

Walking to his car, Butch breathed heavily in and out, in and out. It was bitterly, bitterly cold, and it was hard to even take in any great amount of air into his lungs without them freezing. The air carried an almost heaviness about it. It was no just phyiscally cold and heavy. But on a more metaphorical level, it was also cold and heavy. The wind brought in an almost uneasy feeling. A feeling of moral terror. A terror that kept reoccuring to him secong by second with each step he took toward the car. He could feel the moral weight of his steps and they moved closer and closer. There was a lot of pondering Butch had to do. A lot of thinking. He had spent weeks weighing the ethical odds, and had come to this final decision. He had weighed the odds and came to this conclusion. He had a duty, a job to do. He had to figure out what meant more to him: his family or his life. His morals or his ethics. Those are decisions that no one can make, and that no one should be forced to make. Those are decisions that can cause the mind to second guess itself. And that is never a good thing when it happens.

Getting in the driver side seat, Butch was more relieved to be out of the pouring snow than anything. He rubbed his gloved hands together in order to bring some type of warming sensation to his body. Even his heart and soul could not find a warm thing about this whole decision in front of him. Moral decisions are always the toughest to make, espically for a man of such responsibilty as Butch. So many people depended on him, he couldn't stand it. It was a sub-concience thing that made him question a lot of things. It wasn't depression. Butch was well beyond depression. Depression had come and gone like any other emotion. There was nothing special about it. But now, now was the time when he was well into an almost nervous breakdown. He knew that the outcome of this whole thing would not be good. No matter how much planning they had done. No matter how much detailing they had done, it still didn't seem to be a good working thing. It seemed more to be, to be difficult. It was complicated, to say the least.

After sitting and staring into the dashboard for several minutes, Butch finally cranked the car up with the key. The engine fired and roared, as the cylinders fired and drove. The radio was cut off however, which was pretty typical. Butch didn't much care for the radio, and had gotten so used to driving without one in a police car that his simply didn't have it on in his own car. Plus, he could rarely find any good music that they played. Reception was a joke, and you could barely pick up anything in a blizzard like this. It is practically impossible.

But today he thought it would be interesting to try something else out. Of all nights, tonight had to be the night when he wanted to listen to the radio. It would just be more of that irony rearing its head. Tonight of all nights. Tonight.

Clicking the radio on, at first he heard nothing but static. It took him a while to adjust the dial a little before he could get a good signal on it. Of course, there was a blizzard going on outside, so getting a good signal was a little difficult. Finally after trying so much, he got one good signal. It was a traffic/weather/news report. Just his luck.

_WOMC Radio, Detroit. Bringing you the best blasts from the past. _

_(WOMC!) _

_Alright folks, this is your night crawler Dr. Doo Wop, and we're gonna bring you some groovy Christmas hits from your favorite doo wop artists and beyond, but first we have a little traffic and weather info to get you up to date on. First off, if you're headin' downtown way, watch out, cause for some reason the police have closed off most access to Beaubien Street, as well as Lincoln Park. If you are heading toward those areas today, please be aware that they are closed off, by the police, and detours have been set up to get you to where ever it is you need to be going. Back to the weather, it's gonna be a cooooold one out there tonight. Temperatures expected to get down to minus five degrees without the wind chill! Now that is cold, I'll tell ya! Snow totals are expected to be anywhere from fifteen to twenty inches, depending on where you're at. Anyway, this is Dr. Doo Wop, sayin' stay warm, and stay safe. _

The radio deejay obviously had a lot more enthusiasm about the night than Butch had. But of course he did. For one thing, he was paid to be enthusiastic about every friggin' thing. Two, he was just a funny guy in person, and was even more so on radio. And third, he didn't have anywhere close to the number of decisions to make as Butch did right now. He didn't have half the responsibilities. So right there are some fairly good reasons, though none really great in detail.

Putting the car in gear, Butch pulled out and away, out of the shoveled out driveway and onto the snow packed streets. The snow continued to pour down as _Let it Snow _by Bing Crosby played softly on the old car radio. Irony? Hardly, seeing as it was Christmas time. But the snow coninued to act as a red herring for Butch's emotions. He couldn't blame really any of his anger on the snow. Why should he? But there was a part of him that really wanted to. We always look for scapegoats with those things. But they always come back to rear their ugly heads, time and time again.

Driving was relatively easy once he got on the main roads. they were, for the most part, cleared and salted by now. However, being it was so dark outside, it didn't really help. Roads always seem more dangerous at night than at day. I guess we all have that fear of driving at night. I don't know what it is, but we all have an underlying fear of the dark. I guess seeing nothing really makes us see something. Ourselves. And when we are alone with ourselves, our own thoughts, we often feel very, very scared. But are we scared of ourselves, of what our thoughts tell us about ourselves. I don't know, and I couldn't tell you.

Coasting past all the decorative houses and businesses only made Butch feel more and more insecure about this whole thing. It made himself feel almost doubtful. Very doubtful. He didn't want this assignment. He didn't want this duty. It was tearing him apart. He couldn't take it anymore. He was slowly slipping into insanity with every passing second. Every second another piece of him died. Another piece was laid to rest. He had very little to convince him of anything different now. It just wasn't plausible. But he had to, but he didn't want to. His own emotions got to the best of him. It just wasn't thinkable. Or was it?

Butch just couldn't take it anymore. His breathing was running too fast and going too long. He couldn't deside if he wanted to cry or scream, or possibly both at the same time. He pulled the car over to the side of the street and parked it for a minute. He had to get himself together. He had to readjust himself. Rethink his situation. He couldn't think of anything else right now but the old stand by. He lowered his head and slightly but surely closed his eyes, and his breathing eased up a lot now. He could think clearly as he started to speak.

"Dear God, please, please, please, keep everyone I love and care about safe. I don't care about me anymore. Just take care of Lee, and Barbara, and Rod, and everyone else. But me Lord, just remember me Lord. Because I'll never forget you. I just love my family too much God. I love 'em so much. I just want to stay with them as much as I can. Especially here at Christmas. I don't wanna do this God, but I have to. But please, just keep them safe. That's all I can ask.

Amen."

Butch felt the weight of the world lifted off of his shoulders. He finally felt that comfort that he had been searching for. It was almost as if,...as if something had touched his soul and made him realize that what he was really searching for was in front of him all along. He just didn't realize it until now. He just didn't understand until now the powerful message that was concealed with in this whole thing. He felt as though a slight happiness came over him. A slight joy. Of course it was Christmas time, the best time out of any to feel joy. But he didn't feel total joy. Just partial joy. A small whimpse of joy that came of his sadness. His depression had less doubt now. It was more relieved now. It was more complete now. His full emotional spectrum had now been finished. All doubt was washed away with his brain.

He put the car back into drive, and pulled out of the little area that he had parked to begin with. Pulling out he had a lot more confidence and happiness than just a few moments ago. there was something that had changed his mind about the entire situation. He couldn't quite pick it up. However, he knew it was there, and that's all he needed to reassure him of just about anything right now.

The snow continued to pour down, and quickly sped up the further and further Butch drove into the city. But anyone who grew up with weather like this is practically trained on how to drive in it. You just have to be careful, and not go too fast, or too slow. It's a type of driving where you have to have a keen sense of everything that's going on around you. A good relfex system, and fine motor skills. Butch possessed all of these. He was really a master of all trades. If it was one thing he was a true master of, it was critical thinking in the knick of danger. Lee would also heavily inhibit these traits. We have to think about what a leader is when we think about people like Butch and Lee. Both are great leaders. But what makes a great leader? A great leader is a person who can put himself on both sides of a problem and come to the same conclusion. A great leader is one who can think for himself and others at the same time. A great leader is one who can make correct decisions in the face of danger. A leader is Butch, a leader is Lee.

Rolling down the road at a measly fifteen miles an hour, trying to keep the car under control, the man we know as Butch putted up the avenue and down and away from the snow. It was really starting to lighten up going down into Beaubien St. off of the interstate. The snow was fairly light here, only about seven inches or so. The banners of green and red stretched across the street from lampost to lampost, and streetlight to streetlight. The glowing Christmas lights from all the stores set out nicely in the darkness of the night, and of course the lights glittered and bounced off of the white snow as though it was a tiny light show put on for all the citizens of the city that passed by these places everyday. Butch being among them.

Beaubien Street was completely blocked off by the police. Basically, they wanted what they were doing to be completely secretive and secure. If one word leaked about their mision tonight, it would be like telling the Germans about D-Day. It was a leak that would have destroyed all that they had worked so hard to gain. They had spent weeks and months planning this, organizing this. It was all down to this. And honeslty, there was much more excitement than fear about this whole thing.

Once Butch pulled up to the little orange and white wooden barricade, a rookie policeman walked over and saw one look at Butch through the windshield and pulled the barricade back, letting him go through. Butch waved at him as he drove on and down the road toward the tall gray brick building that stood on the corner. Snow covered the grass and bushes that went around the building, and the parking lot next to it was packed with the cars of all the people involved with the mission. At the front of the building where the long concrete steps lead up to the door, about twenty policemen stood around with coffee mugs in their hands, conversating and talking about what was gonna happen. They all had on those thick nylon coats that went over their uniforms. The talking was very heavy as the snow lightly flurried and slowly jiggled onto the ground. Flake after flake, by and by all made it to the ground.

Butch pulled up to the side of the building and saw a familiar face as he shifted the gear into park. It was Rod, walking up to him and toward the window. He looked very tired and excited at the same time. He had obvioulsy had way too much coffee and one too many cigarettes. His breath was of nicotine and caffine, and his face looked like it was ready to stretch in half.

"Hey Butch, ya finally showed up. We've been waitin' for ya for an hour now. What took ya so long." Rod asked as Butch popped the door open and climbed out. He rubbed his eyes with his hands and gave out a big yawn.

"I was uh...busy." he said as he closed the door and started up the stairs. Everyone crowded around him as he made his way to the front entrance doors.

"Hey, hey, hey back off huh, give the man some space, huh!" Rod said as he got behind Butch, trying to back everyone off of him a little.

"Hey, who the hell are you anyway Rod, huh? You ain't nobody!" one of the other cops said, defying Rod's friendship with Butch.

"Hey, he's my best friend, so leave 'em alone..." Butch said in a serious tone as pointing his finger in the officer's face. Rarely did he show this type of authority in a serious tone. The officer just gulped and backed off as they all piled in the front lobby. Butch went over to the wall and flipped the lights on, as he grabbed a cup of coffee and motioned for everone to gather around him as he stood up in a chair. He nodded to Rod, and Rod went and grabbed his coffee. Butch cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Listen up everybody, this is a big deal. Now, we've gone through this, rehearsed it several times, and God only knows how many times we've studied it. We've worked hard, trained hard, and thought hard. This won't be easy, but we will do it. No matter what happens tonight, just remember that I will always stand beside you as my men. You are everything to me, and I would take a bullet for any of ya. You guys look up to me. And I to you. But, mistakes happen. If anything happens to me,..." he said, looking down at Rod, smiling, "Sergeant Van Wilmer will be the next in command." Rod just beamed with a smile himself, happy as could be. "But hopefully that won't happen. We're too good for that to happen. We're too good. But just remember, where you are I will also be, and I will leave no one behind. Now, let's do this!" Butch said as he finished up and pumped his fist into the air.

Everyone cheered and applauded as Butch stepped down from the chair and motioned for everyone to go back out side so they could roll out.

"Let's kick the tires and light the fires!" Rod said as he stuffed some extra ammo into his belt pouches.

"Can I hear an amen for that!" Butch said as he slid six .357 magnum rounds into his Colt shark, the standard for policemen at the time.

Outside, the snow was slowly but surely starting to pick up again. The wind also was picking up, and tossing the already grounded snow to and fro.

Butch went to the lot and got into his old jalopy of a police car. He trusted it though, as he had been with it for so long. Rod also got in his car, which had a reserved spot right next to Butch's. Rod had a rookie with him, a guy we would come to know later in the story.

After the twenty cops were all in their cars, Butch engaged them all in something they always did when they went on a big mission. Rod picked up his CB and listened for the cue.

"Alrighty, this is Sailorman callin' all angels, are we ready for the go?" Butch said into his CB, to all the cars.

"Sailorman this is Little Dutch Boy, we have side-op six and ready for the mark." Rod responded.

"This is Sailorman, shall we dance?" Butch said as all the police officers in the mission tuned their car radios in to _Ride of the Valkyries _by Wagner. They all had it turned all the way up, and it was auidible all the way up and down the long street. Butch was the first car to pull out, then Rod, then everyone else followed.

They rolled out of the lot and into the street, rolling on to the mission.

The residential streets of inner-Detroit are never anything funny. Crack houses, street-curb dealers, gangstas, and hookers and whores just looking for some money. It was a nasty sight of debauchery and poverty. Why would any person in their right mind live like this? In these,...slums. It was very strange, and down right horrifying to picture a child or young person having to grow up in these conditions. It most likely came with no surprise to some of these people though. However, even amongst these conditions, future success stories could arise. Just goes to show that you never can tell...

Going down 5th Street, the worst of the worse was visible through the window of the city. This was were the gangs dwelled and the drugs ran rampant. Up above, the police department had issued two helicopters two circle around the block. Their main task was to keep the perpertraitors isolated and contained, making it much easier to catch them and get them. Of course it also had the negative effect of getting all the inhabitants of the neighborhood all stired up, and many of them had taken to their front yards in giant coats and pajamas, yelling and arguing about what was going on as 15 police cars rolled down their street followed by two SWAT vans, not to mention the helicopters. Many of them were confused by it, and pretty much scared about it. How was anybody supposed to know how to act when a whole police force shows up in a bad neighborhood, where everyone knows what's going on?

The cars roared down the snow-scaped streets and pulled up infront of a house that was very shady looking. It was a two story house with yellow aluminum sidding and a tin roof. The house looked as if it hadn't been repaired at all in thirty years. The windows were busted for the most part, and the sidding had been taken over by vines and dead trees. Every thing about this house said that it harbored the necessities for criminal activity. Talk about writing on the wall...This house was the billboard on the wall for suspecion.

There were several Cadillacs and Lincolns parked around the house, which sat on a corner. The lights were on, so someone must have been home. Loud rap music could be heard coming from within the house, and blared for the entire neighborhood to hear. This house was codenamed "The Lion's Den" by the police for a reason: that's pretty much what it was. Millions of dollars worth of drugs flowed through here, as well as stuff like prostitution, among others. It was a serious problem, and tonight, the police had a set plan on how to end it all. They had had enough of all the horrible law breaking that was so very prevelent in this part of the city. It was a problem that Butch planned on ending for good.

The police all parked their cars around the house, and many of them began setting up barriers and barricades to stop any traffic that might have occured, however, it was very unlikely. Butch pulled up to the very front of the house, right where the front gate entrance is located. Rod pulled in right behind him, and parked. All the cops had now gotten out of their cars and were standing around the brown, weathered picket fence that wrapped around the house. The snow had pretty much stopped at this point, and the air was very, very cold. As was stated before, many of the neighbors all stood around in their yards, yelling and hollering about what was going on with this whole police situation. Butch, retaining his typical tempermate, stayed cool as he reached in and switched the loudspeaker on with the CB. He pulled the device up to his mouth as he was about to address whoever was in the house.

"Come out with your hands where we can see 'em and drop all weapons in your possesions on the deck at your feet. We know what is going on in there and we are here to arrest all perpertraitors responsible." Butch said in his normal, strict speech. There was no funny business with him. All just as solid and smooth as anything else. He didn't hesitate once with his words, and made them just as professional and rock hard as he possibly could. However, he knew it couldn't be that good to not have some catch to it. It wouldn't go easy, it just couldn't.

All the policemen looked on as the snow slowly fell and hit the ground. Rod was standing a heartbeat away from Butch next to the fence, and he was the man who was closest than any of the others to not only the house but Butch himself. He was practically acting as vice president to Butch, and felt a deep sense of responsibility if something were to happen, if something were to go wrong.

After a few moments of waiting, nothing happened. No one came outside of the house. No one said anything. If it wasn't for the blaring music, it would have been dead silence. Complete, horrific silence.

"This is Lt. Richard Leary, Detroit Polic Department speaking, come out with you hands up and nobody gets hurt." Butch said one last time in the sternest and angriest voice that he could possibly conjure up at this moment. In his mind, he didn't really know what was going on. He tried not to think of it too much, because if he did, he knew he would have thought too much. And thinking too much about one action, especially while it's taking place, is never a good thing.

Once he said those words, several moments passed by before anything happened. The officers were once again forced to wait in this horrific silence, for the music had been cut off now. There was nothing but complete silence. Complete, one hundred percent horrific silence.

The horror...

After those several minutes passed by, four tall black men stepped out of the broken front door and out onto the front porch. One of them had an illegally modified automatic AK-47, another had an uzi (an automatic handgun), another had a sawed-off Remington shotgun, and the last had a .44 Magnum revolver. They tried to appear as meanicing as possible. The simple look into their face was the look of evil. These men possessed no human emotion whatsoever. No soul, no depth. All they possessed was their self-righteous beliefes about themselves. They scared everyone. They wanted to. They wanted to be horror.

Horror...horror...horror has a face. And yet horror takes on many faces. What is horror? Horror is the absense of any self-confidensce in conquering fear. Horror is when you realize you are helpless against the stranglehold against evil. Horror is when you realize you have no say whatsoever in a situation where you never had an advantage in the first place. Horror isn't the fear of fear. Horror is the fear of fearing the unchangeable.

The horror...the horror...

The apparent leader of the pack of the four men stuck his AK-47 up into the air and squeezed off a few rounds. It is simply amazing that anyone would even remotely do this in front of a bunch of police officers. But then again, criminals have no real capacity for human emotion. If they did, they wouldn't be criminals.

"Hit the deck!" Butch cried out as the other policemen hit the snow-covered ground upon order. They all pulled out their weapons, for they could tell this was going to be nasty. It was just begging to get ugly. Rod and his rookie did like the other cops did and slowly scuddled over behind their cars. Rod had his .357 Magnum pistol out and aimed at the leader. His eyes never moved from the sight, and neither did his focus.

Butch however was the only cop not hiding. He was just standing there, his .357 handgun in front of him. He aimed straight and directly at the leader. His focus never moved, his concentration never moved. His eyes stayed directly on the one man. He knew it was growing far too serious. It had crossed the line from bade to worse. That line was a single clear line that could not be ignored. Butch slowly started to walk forward past the gate and a little onto the sidewalk. The only thing that moved were his legs. His entire upper body never twitched a bit. On his face was the look of anger. Almost a bottled up anger. Like he had grown so disgusted with this whole thing that he couldn't take it anymore. His gun was parallel to the criminal, who looked with such arrogance that is was almost unreal.

"Put the guns down now, or we will fire!" Butch said, through heavily gritted teeth. That anger that he possessed was becoming more and more prevelant as time went on and on. He stopped himself from moving once he was roughly 15 steps away from the front porch of the house. His gun was still pointed directly at them.

"Shut the fuck up, mothafucka! You ain't got no sense, do ya? Do you know who we are? We are the kings, you, are not..." the chief leader said with a pompous arrogance and discourse for any real logic at all.

"I am warning you, you all are under arrest by the Detroit City Police Department. We have a warrent, and we are here to collect our bill." Butch said one last time, gritting his teeth so hard that it was a wonder he had not broken them by now.

He kept his face as serious as ever as he pulled his fingers back and squeezed on the trigger oh so gently but oh so carefully. It was almost as if he was doing it in slow motion. His mind was racing so fast that he couldn't think about anything that was going on. He couldn't. He had to make that tough decision. That decision was only one that he could make. He finally pulled the trigger all the way back.

Nothing happened.

He looked with concern as the group on the front porch started laughing. Butch was scared. The horror was setting in. He pulled the trigger back several mor times, but nothing happpened. He tried, and tried, and tried. Nothing happened. His handgun was jammed. He wasn't able to fire it. He was heavily concerned, and the horror crippled him.

The leader on the porch turned around to the others in his gang asn whispered something demeanitive about the police to them. They snickered as if they had been told a third-grade joke at lunchtime. The leader then turned back around, and raised his rifle up slightly, pointing in the direct direction of Butch, though he was aiming from the hip and certainly not using the sights.

So many a thought race through Butch's head at thsi moment. His wife, his daughter, Rod, his other friends. All the things that mattered most to him. He said a silent prayer in his mind as he closed his eyes. The actual event happened in about fifteen seconds, but it seemed like everything was on slow motion. That's how it felt. Slow motion. The man with the rifle pulled his finger slowly back, and pulled it all the way.

The darkness. The evil.

The horror...

A bullet ripped through the air, going straight through the sound barrier in the process. It spun and spun through mid air as it cut the wind and gashed the air. It went as fast as it could straight for Butch. The bullet was on a direct path to his neck, and a path that was almost impossible to determine. It was almost as if time itself had slowed down to the point of sickness. It was an almost unnatural time warp. The bullet spun and spun, tossing around the air around it.

It went straight into Butch's jugular vein. The bullet cut straight across the vein that was exposed by his neck. The bullet went straight through the skin, vein, and out the other side of his neck in a matter of miliseconds. As the bullet cut across the jugular, it opened up a seven inch slash over it. Blood spirted and squirted everywhere and in every direction. It poured down from his deck like a fountain, and ran down his chest and stomach. Butch grasped for his last breath as the blood just went out into every direction that it could. It projected out from his neck about a foot or more to the sidewalk, where it fell in a very pressured stream of red. The blood that poured down his throat had now begun to pour from his pants leg, and slowly oozed from under neath his socks. the red liquid puddled up under his shoes and stained the pure white snow a deep, deep red.  
He couldn't hold on any longer. He simply fell over to the side and to the back. His breath gasped in as he fell over, and the thud was heard as he hit the snow covered concrete. The blood was still spurting out of his open vein, and ran down the snow covered sidewalk in several small threads of red. Drip by drip, it made its way down and around the feet of Rod, who was all the way behind his car trunk, beside the sidewalk. The red poured everywhere, and started to run down into the sewer drain. Drip, drip, drip.

The leader said "Shut the fuck up!" as he brought his gun back down again and started lauging out loud. I mean, histerically laughing. His friends joined in and they all four just sat there and laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

Behind the trunk of his squad car, Butch couldn't take it anymore. The anger inside him boiled over as he rose up off the ground almost instantly and aimed his .357 Magnum dead center on the man who had just shot Butch. He fired off one, two, three, four shots. Four shots rang out from the end of his pistol. Three shots hit the man in the stomach, and one hit him in the dead center of the chest. The shots echoed for miles on end as the man gurgled up some blood just as Butch and fell straight forward and hit the porch on his face. Blood dripped out of his mouth and hit the first step drip by drip.

"No, you shut the fuck up..." Rod yelled as he brought his pistol up to aim at the other three, but he did not find them. They had already taken off running, probably to hide from the cops.

The police were in a literal frenzy. No one knew what to do. SWAT was acting quick to go infiltrate the house and pull those no good demons out from their hiding holes.

Rod just ran straight over to Butch, who was lying back down on the snow, blood still oozing out from his neck. He fell to his knees beside him, the tears just pouring out of his eyes. He hollered and pounded his fists on the snow that laid beside him. He looked over to a group of police who were standing there on the side walk.

"God damn it, get me a fuckin' ambulance or somethin'!" Rod screamed at them though his tears. He just broke down and fell onto Butch's stomach, and the tears could not stop coming from his eyes. Butch was now dead.

Rod wept.

About thirty minutes later, they had gotten Butch into the back of an ambulance and officially declared him dead. Rod stood at the back of the ambulance, the stains still on his face, though he had come back to reality a little bit. The Chief of Police walked over to him with a little slip of paper.

"Sergeant Van Wilmer." the COP said, standing infront of Rod, "listen, we need you to call Barbara, Butch's wife. If there's anybody that needs to know, I think it's her." he said, handing the little shred of paper with a seven digit number scribbled on it. Rod simply nodded as he went over to the payphone that sat on the pole on the street curb. Rod put in the right change and dialed the number. After three rings, someone over the other end answerd.

"Hello...?" the soft, delicate voice said.

"Hello, yes this is Sergeant Rodney Van Wilmer of the Detroit Police Department." Rod said, speaking into the phone.

"Yes...?" the other voice said.

"Litsen Mrs. Leary, I don't know how else to tell you this, so I'll just tell you. Your husband Butch was killed in the line of duty today. They just declared him dead a few minutes ago. I'm so sorry..." Rod said, trying to find the words...

The other end hung up. Rod didn't know how to quite take it, and honestly didn't really question it at all.

About thirty minutes later, a Chevrolette Camero pulled up outside the house. Out of the driver's side stepped a women that looked about to be in her late 20s, early 30s. She had shoulder length brunette hair and the most pretty face. Tears had stained her face, and her mascera make-up was smeared and ran all the way down her face. She walked over toward the ambulance and looked straight at the dead body of Butch that was lying on a gurnie on the street right behind the ambulance. She tried to get through the police tape, but the rookie cops wouldn't let her. In the near distance, Rod saw what was going on and went up to them.

"Hey, she's his wife, let her go for fuck's sake!" he yelled in a very serious voice. The two cops let her go as Barbara fell down on top of Butch's corpse. She started crying badly again, and her face became morphed and twisted by the contures of her emotions. She was completely drained of any type of emotion, and didn't possess the will power to show any. She kissed the blood soaked lips of her dead husband, and hugged his blood drenched body as tight as she could.

Barbara wept.

It was now three days later, and Barbara was kneeling down in the pews of the Lutheran Church where Butch's funeral had just taken place about two hours ago. She was dressed in all black, an her face was off that of nothing but depression. In her hands she gripped close the American Flag of which had been folded and given to her on both his military record and his civil service as a police officer. On top of the flag, she held a picture of her and Butch right after Butch had gotten out of the Navy. She held it in her hand, staring into the face that she would never be able to see again. They eyes she would never be able to look into again. The lips she would never be able to kiss again. The heart she would never be able to love again...

_Now in the chapel, where Barbara prays. _

_For her Butch, who passed away. _

_It was just for Barbara, he lived and died. _

_Alone in the chapel, _

_she could hear him cry..._

_"Tell Barbara, I love her!_

_Tell Barbara, I need her! _

_Tell Barbara not to cry, _

_my love for her... _

_will never die!"... _

The world wept.


	70. Chapter LXX

Song at the end of the chapter:  
watch?v=HyNsxiixSgY

Chapter LXX

So, here we are. There we were. A moment in the past, though, a moment that we have to examine in order to understand Lee. From that day on, her life would become nothing but one big storm. A storm that would never end in her mind. All of her future had been blown away. She had no hope, no direction, no nothing. No incentive to move on. Nothing to pull her out of the bottomless pit that was her future. She was trapped in this thunderstorm called life. And she had it worse than others. Much worse.

The fact is, is that after the murder of her father, Lee would never be the same. And neither would Barbara, but that's another topic altogether. Honestly, how could anybody be the same? It was an event that capitalized on the fear that Barbara had. The fear of losing one of the only things that made her feel comfortable about life. Now, she had nothing. After the death, she took the Baby Lee and moved back in with her parents next door. It was quite embarassing for her, but she had to do what she had to do. It was about a week after the death, and the emotions were still running rampant. The snow had stopped, but the storm had not. It was that day, December 11th. The sky was a cloudless blue, and the sun was shining brightly, though it gave no heat whatsoever. The snow still covered the ground, to the tune of about eight inches, though it was most likely more. Barbara was in her trench coat and ski-hat, helping unload some of the boxes from her car and into her parent's house. Her father was out helping her.

Hans Kanker, the semi-patriarch of the Kanker family. Father to his daughter Barbara and grandfather to Lee and his future granddaughters Marie and May. He was an interesting man at this point. He was not too old, only 58 years old. He was not particulary tall, only about five foot nine inches. His hair was a dark brown, but was just starting to gray. His face was a lot like that of Barbara's, and especially of that to come of Marie. In fact, he was like a male version of Marie. The same freckles dotted his face under his eyes. The same captivating blue oval eyes, set apart from his small nose. He had that same charming and lovely grin as well. In total, if there was anybody that inhibited that attributes of Marie, it was her beloved grandfather.

He walked over to the car with his tan bomber's jacket on, a symbol of the elderly everywhere. He still moved with great percision and agility though. He was a very active and motion-oriented old man, and could out work and out do any person half his age.

"Now Barbara, where do you want this crap?" he asked her as he picked up another duct-taped cardboard box that was vaguely labeled "stuff." Grandpa Kanker was a very wise-cracking soul, who loved to tease other people with his good natured humour. Another trait that Marie would wind up with.

"It's not crap dad, that's just somemore of Lee's baby stuff." Barbara said, referending on his statement of the stuff being crap.

"It's crap!" he contested as he brought the box up out of the trunk and carried it on to the house.

"Oh dad, you think everything's crap." Barbara said, playing along with him and his clunky habits. They always would tease each other and pick at each other. it was just part of the father-daughter relationship.

"Well, back in my day, we didn't have all these toys and what not. All I had was one rattle, and some teething rings that you stick in the ice box. That's all I had, and I did just fine." he said, stepping down the sidewalk and up into the house.

"What, did Fred Flinstone make 'em for you or something?" Barbara said, smiling a little. It was the first time she had cracked a smile all week.

"Ha ha, verrrry funny. Now help me will ya, I don't got much longer to go. They'll have my gravestone sittin' on the sidewalk by the time we get this car unloaded, now hurry up slow poke." he joked with her as she went and grabbed a few of the small boxes that were still in the car's trunk. She followed him up and into the house.

After setting the boxes down on the living room floor, Grandpa Kanker had to go and sit down in his special chair that sat in front of the fireplace and the TV. It was almost like his throne, and he wasn't about to give it up for anybody. He sat down in it with a huge sigh of relief as he leaned his head againt the back and closed his eyes, preparing to head straight into nap mode. That was of course before Barbara haulted the prepared action all together.

"Come on dad, you gotta help me unpack!" Barbara urged as she tugged on his shirt sleeve. She war harkened back to the days when she was eight years old and use to do this very same thing.

"Oh alright, I'll help, I'll help!" he said in a jokingly annoyed voice, "but you better promise me a nap afterwards." he said, grinning up at her.

"Alright, alright I promise." she said. Her father then slowly got up out of the chair and went over to the stack of about ten boxes that sat idely on the floor. He walked up to the first one on top and took it down, setting it on the couch over by the stairs. The box was quite heavy, and showed a lot for just a small cardboard box. Maybe it was not necesarrily the actual weight, but the emotional weight as well.

"I wonder what's in here...?" Grandpa Kanker said as he ripped the duct tape slowly off and pulled it back and off. Slowly pulling the cardboard panels back, he revealed a box of memories.

"Wow,..." he said, picking up the first item. It was a framed picture of Butch in his white sailor's uniform. His smiling face was enough to send chills down his spine. It was almost like Butch was right there with them, in the room. And in spirit, he was. His presense was just too overwhelming for Barbara. She had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he was gone. He was no longer there. His gentle face, his warm embrace. No more. Looking into his eyes again, though in picture form, was still a very difficult experience for her.

"Well, I guess we can just set this off to the side, huh." he said, trying to avoid the emotions that were sure to come from both of them. It was the type of thing where you know what's going to happen, but you avoid it anyway. Sort of avoiding the unavoidable. Now where in the story have we seen this before...

"Yeah,..." Barbara said, also trying to avoid this feeling. This feeling that she knew was there, but pretended not to notice it. But the more she did, the more guilt she felt for trying to avoid it.

Next in the box were several pairs of blue US Navy dungarees, the standard pants that Butch wore. they were long denim jeans with several buttons for the fly, and his name was sewn onto the back pocket. To be honest, they looked more like women's pants than mens.

"What do you suppose we do with these?" Barbara asked him, looking at them with an almost disgusted face. She was never a big fan of these particular pants.

"Well, there's no use to throw 'em away. Too good of pants to do that. These things last forever. Hell, these things will probably outlive you!" Grandpa said, picking a pair of them up to examine them. "What I would do is keep 'em, and let Lee wear 'em when she gets older."

"Really?" she asked him.

"Sure, they look a lot like ladies pants, and besides, it'll be a good momento for her to hang on to. God knows she won't have much to remember him by. It's the little things that really have an impact. I wouldn't tell her at first though. Let 'er wear 'em for a while, then tell her." he said, looking his daughter straight in the eye. He was being dead serious, something that he rarely was.

"You think she would wear 'em?" Barbara asked, a little unsure of his logic. Though she was in the wrong to question his wisdom.

"I know she will. Trust me." he said, giving her a small little smile over his face. That let her know that he was being serious, but still joyful at the same time. That is just how his emotions worked. Nobody could really explain it, but then again, no one really should try either. It's just that simple.

"Alright, I'll hang on to 'em." Barbara said, taking out the six pairs of pants and lying them on top of the picture that they had just taken out moments before.

"Okay, what's up next?" he asked. Next in the box was an anchor. Not just any anchor. It was a black anchor that was roughly the size of a car tire. It looked like just about any old anchor, but when turned over, it revealed a much more special meaning.

On the back, on the central shank, was white writing in cursive. On the left side, it said _USS _and on the right side it said _Leyte Gulf. _In the center was smaller black lettering that stretched under the previously stated writing that said _Arrayed for Victory _in quotation marks. In the very center in between the ship name and above the motto, was _1987._ Down the anchor leading down the shaft were several sentences written out in white cursive. It said: **"_Every Sailor has the potential to lead. I don't care if it's a seaman __recruit or someone higher ranking than myself. Where there's a will, there's a way." - Norfolk, VA. 30 September, 1987_****_._**

Down the anchor on the left side of the fluke, there was on signature in white: _Captain Glenn R. Blindel, Commander._ On the other side of the fluke, there were several signatures. On top of them all was again another signature written in white: _Seaman Apprentice Richard "Butch" Leary, USN. _Under his signature were about four or five other signatures, most likely his fellow janitors and friends.

This was possibly Butch's favourite momento from his service days. It was his commerative ship anchor that they passed out to all the men assigned to that ship. Butch being among them.

"This is the anchor he brought back from Norfolk after he was assigned to his ship." Barbara said, trying to explain what it was to her father.

"Man, this guy sure had a lot of souvinirs, huh?" Grandpa said, scratching his head.

Next in the box is probably the most important of all. It was a glass bottle with a ship inside, mounted onto a plaque. The plaque simply read _Ship Inna Bottle _and nothing else.

Barbara's eye's started to water a little bit as she pulled the ship in a bottle out of the box. It brought back so many of her memories, she couldn't stand it. It was too much. Just, too much.

"That's an old ship in a bottle..." her father said, pointing at it.

"Not just any ship in a bottle..." Barbara replied, as she took it off the plaque. She then took it and unscrewed the bottom of the bottle, the secret to the whole thing. After she had the bottom off, she pulled the ship out and took a long look at the sail on the ship. She carfully pulled it out and unfolded the triangular fold. Once she had it fully unfolded, Barbara held the piece of paper that it was. On it was typed print. On it it said:

**_"Our spouses serve as we serve, every bit as much. They do not bear the arms, but _**  
**_their open arms provide strength and comfort. They do not set the ship's course, _**  
**_but their internal compass keeps the family ready and on track. They do not ford _**  
**_the stream or build the bridge, but the bridge they provide back to the home _**  
**_sustains and improves the morale and performance of entire units."_ **

As Barbara read the paper, her eyes began to tear up something terrible. It was just hard-hitting for her to read the paper. When she got to the end of it, there was a hand-written note in blue cursive. It read:

**_To a happy marriage,  
Quartermaster Butch Leary, USN. _**

"What is it?" her father asked, curious about the entire ship in a bottle, but especially this little note. He was also a little jeered by the tears that Barbara produced as she read it.

"This,..." she started, a one tiny tear began to cling to her bottom eyelashes, "is a present Butch sent me the week before he proposed to marry me. He sent it in the mail when he came back in to Norfolk. One week later, he came up to Detroit and proposed." she said. The tear then fell and ran down her cheek. It dripped off of her eye and landed on the paper, leaving a small little stain.

"Oh yeah, I remember now..." Grandpa said, as if he didn't know a thing about it until he finally realized what it was. He could remember getting it out of the mailbox and handing it to his daughter that day.

There were a few more items scattered in the box, namely picture albums and small little momentos.

After they were done, they put all the stuff back into the box. The main reason being that most of it was just too emotional for either of them to look at. It was almost as if, as if Butch had been there with them, in the room. They could certainly feel his presence. They could feel him there.

After sitting there for a few minutes, Barbara, out of nowhere, began to start sobbing. She cried, she wept like some,...grandmother. She just wanted to rip her teeth out. She couldn't feel more miserable. It was just plain emotional to watch, and luckily you only have the print version to go by.

Her emotions were hard to describe at this point, certainly by me as the narrorator. Certainly there was some depression, but most of all she felt grief. Grief and sorrow. Guilt for the past, but ambition for the future. It was a strange tangling of emotions typically one presentable for debate on a non-saddening basis, but this was the exception to the rule. There was a conflict of memories and regret, two things that should never go together, unless one can bear the terrible results of morning and sadness.

"What is it honey?" her father asked her, as he turned himself to face Barbara. He shakingly placed his hand on her arm, as a father would do to a daughter in need of help. This of course being that very instance. He didn't know quite what to say, but he knew he could find the words somewhere with in him. Though obviously not as fast and quickly as one of our favorite people would do in a situation like this.

"I don't know daddy. It's just,...I miss him so much. I just don't know..." she said, as the tears continued to fall, and the emotions continued to stir around in the cyclone cloud of the storm that was her life. A never ending storm.

"Come on honey, you don't need to do this. What happened, happened. We can't go back and change that. But listen, no matter what, Butch will always love you. Always, and don't you ever forget it. Because when you do forget it, that's when you start to doubt it in the first place. And that doubt will set you on the wrong path." he said looking into her eyes. Barbara never really realized it before, but her dad looked just like Ralphie's "Old Man" from _A Christmas Story_. He talked just like him too, and his little speech that he gave just solidified his presence as an amazing person.

He took his hand and wiped her tears away.

"If there's one thing I don't need, it's a bunch of tears in the way of seeing your pretty little eyes." he said smiling.

"Oh dad..." she said as she embraced him in a tight, daughterly hug. He hugged her back and patted her back with his hands several times. He had to fight tears as he spoke, as his voice cracked and his eyes watered.

"It's okay. You'll always be loved. And don't you forget that. You may be in a bad storm now, but it'll all pass soon. It'll all pass with time."

Two sat there on the sofa, hugging each other tight, with their heads on each other's shoulders.

They wept.

Years passed, and we all know the story. Same sequence and same tune as we have been told by two seperate characters. And don't worry, I will elaborate on Rod's entrance later, but now is not the time for that. Now is the time where we actually go into Lee's mind. Now, strictly with me being the narrorator speaking to you the reader, we all know that everyone seems to hate Lee. We see it every where. People call her ugly, homely, and down right bullyish and cruel. But perhaps what you don't understand is the fact that her mind has been warped by the storm that is her life. Ever since we have known these characters, we have been denied access to the mind of Lee. For years, we have never been able to discover the inner thoughts of probably the second most menatlly disturbed and warped person in this series, the other being one that we will discuss in greater detail later. Truly there has never been a character that I sympathize more with than what I feel for Lee now. I can't garuantee that you'll fell the same way, though, I don't think any of us can truly look at Lee the same way again. I surely can't. And those eyes we cannot look into, that mind we are barred from entering, is truly a mind we have been inside all along, and never even realized it. Great is the mind that can think, nobel is the mind that can understand...

It was a warm summer day, in the late morning of what ever year you can assume it to be. Lee Kanker, then only a twelve year old girl, bore more weight as far as responsiblity goes than any other kid her age. She had to look after her two youngers sisters, which even though she saw them as annoying and quite aggrivating, loved them like she loved no one else. True, Lee Kanker cannot show love like anyone else. Her sense of love had been broken since she was three months old. But she still tried in her best abilities to find a way to give back to her sisters what they gave her: a sisterly love.

For years, they had only had each other, and each other was all they had. In their mind at least. Now, to branch off of this a little, we have to simply assume that the saying "When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose." is true. However, what if it isn't. None of us have nothing. Even when you have nothing, you have something. For if nothing is an agreeable concept, it is something you can possess. For truly if we think we have nothing, we still have technicalities.

We can look at the rose-coloured, warrented notion of a picture that indicates the sisters as having a very disfunctional and non-orderly relationship. But you have to realize, that when your life is already disfunctional, acting disfuntional is simply playing the poker game of life with the cards you're dealt. In the Kankers' case, they always ended up with the two jokers, and the card with the rules on it. A hand that no experienced or even amaturish card player can do anything with, but the Kankers seem to be knocking the table with a check and a call every single time the round gets to them. Every single time.

Today was your typical day. Nothing was very different, however there was this underlying sence of differnce. There was this feeling of queerness and vague irregularity, as when you go to a city where Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 instead of 7:30. The feeling of being out of place, yet in place at the same time. Like when I where my Friday shirt on Thursday, or when I go to Mass on Saturday. That feeling where you can enjoy what the result is, yet you are still confronted with it being different from the normal. But with that you employ the can opener for the can of worms that is "what is normal?" I don't know what normal is, but I guess it feels more average than what isn't normal.

The house.

Or so it was called by the neighborhood kids. On the block, there was this strange and abandoned house that sat, all alone and isolated in it's position. It wanted to be left alone, but sent out this message as though it was begging for people to enter its shuddery doors.

The house was your typical tudor two-story colonial built sometime after the turn of the century, though before the Great Depression. The exact construction date is uncertain, though the for sale description calls it a "Gilded Age wonder", so we can assume from that that it was built sometime between 1905 and 1920. The gray lead-based exterior paint job was starting to fade as the sun had been baking it since the last paint job it recieved. The shingles, the desert tan shingles were beginning to fade and tear as the sultry storm winds of the past had ripped at them for decades. Two windows peaked from the roof, and gave the house an almost luminous pair of eyes, watching every foot step of the cul-de-sac with intense purpose. Above it all rose a large chimney that house two smoke-stacks which had seen their share of mid-winter fires. The house extended in the front for the large picture window that sat just to the side of the front entrance. Two beige shutters sat slightly unhinged from the actual window itself, and gave it that sense of a horror story in the making. The front door sat in almost the very center of the house, and was postioned between the two picture windows. The door itself was of a wood that resembeled mahogany, though was probably more like an ash or oak actually. The thrice repeating windows only continued to stare at the stretching cul-de-sac as they had done for practically a hundered years.  
Of course leading up to all of this was a vast field of reproductive dandelions, which made the lawn look as if it had had a melting snow on top. It was really quite strange to see a ragweed infestation quite this bad.

Out of the ragweed field rose no one else but our dear friend Ed, who had a potted cactus placed so elegantly upon his head. The terracotta pot gave an almost hat-like appearnce as he gazed at the mysterious house from the sidewalk, and ever there he had little reason to feel overly confident. Quickly he ripped a few stalks of the mature ragweed and made off with it, running with an almost childlike excitement.

"I've found some grass Eddy!" Ed yelled as he trotted down to the make shift taco stand that was sitting on the curb.

"Whoppdie-do Ed..." Eddy responded. He was busy gratting down an orange crayola for some waxy cheddar. I think the grater warrenty is voided by this action. "Cheese grated and waiting!" Eddy shouted, tossing the rubbed down Crayola to the side. "Ready to roll, Double D?"

"Don't rush me Eddy. There is an art to folding tacos from _paper plates._" Double D said, folding some paper plates into the shapes of fried corn taco shells. Obviously these things would only be edible to the biggest glue-sniffers of society, but the Eds didn't care. They just had fun doing it, and that was all that mattered to them.

"Ole!" Ed shouted as he shoved some more ragweed into the paper plate Double D had just _bended. _not folded (folding is when a crease is made).

"Everyone's a critic..." Double D uttered. And boy, do I know his pain!

"Art/schmart, _everyone_ will buy our tacos. It's a sinch!" Eddy said, obvioiusly more deluted with his self interests than he should have been. But of course, narcicism is practically Eddy's middle name.

"Grass, paper plates, and crayon for cheese a taco does not make, Eddy." Double D said, having to be the Debbie Downer of the group. There was almost an expected "womp, womp, wooomp" after the statement. But, Double D was just being realistic, and only people that suffer from pieka would even sample a non-edible taco.

"Cheddar!" Ed yelled as he grabbed the bowl of crayon and downed it. But what else can we expect from Ed?

"For goodness sake Ed, does that really taste like cheese?" Double D shrieked, but he should know better. Ed's mind is like the Internet: a series of tubes.

"It's orange like cheese." Ed said holding his finger up. And that is logic according to Ed.

"Really..." Double D said, as his brain was already leading him down a path of interest, "so if what you're saying is true, this blue crayon must be a blueberry pie." Double D finished, holding up a blue crayon. He was trying so hard to reason with Ed's logic, but how can you reason with something that is not there.

"Tart yet crusty..." Ed said as he gobbled up the blue crayon. Obvioulsy he can look beyond the wax and into his imagination.

"You guys quit foolin' around!" Eddy said, "I still have to add my brother's secret..."

"Banana." Double D said, cutting off Eddy from finishing his statement. "Yellow is for banana. You are a banana." Double D told the crayon, trying to hypnotize a wickless candle. He took one bite of it and spit the wax everywhere, in disgust.

"Water, water!" he screamed, holding on to his neck, "Don't just stand there..." as he grabbed the bottle of hot sauce that Eddy was holding. He took and put it straight in his mouth, guzzling down the liquid fire.

The Eds shared the hot sauce with some words as well. At first, no immediate effects were shown. Eddy remarked as to how it was supposed to be "a real gut burner" (even though all the effects are felt by the taste buds on the tounge, not in the stomach.) After several seconds, they all started to react to the capsazine as it started to burn their mouths.

Up in the old abandoned house, several figures cast their shadows as several people moved about from with in. From the outside, one could mostly only see the shadows. However, from the inner house, these figures were quite visible.

Inside this top floor library of sorts, were the three sisters we admire most. Lee, Marie, and May.

Now, it is quite curious as to why the Kanker sisters would be in this abandoned house. I've heard one theory, that had more to do with family history than anything. But, I am going to leave that theory to the theorist (you know who you are), and generate my own hypothesis. I can assume one major thing from this whole thing: the house is abandoned. I don't know why, or how, but it is abandoned. That is what we know with the facts given. Now, on the flip side of that coin, we know the same thing about the Kankers. They are abandoned. Abandoned from society. Abandoned from emotions. All but abandoned from life. There is possibly, and probably, an emotional connection. The Kankers see this house as almost a larger, however metaphorical, version of themselves. It's out there, but consider the possiblities. A house of covered up furniture. Sisters with covered up feelings. A house with large housings, but nothing to house. Sisters with huge emotions, but no one to share them with. You have to think outside the box on this one, but it's fairly intersting to say the least. Just follow me here.

In this library, the three sisters were spread out far and wide. There was enough room for them all to share at least their own little areas.

Marie was sitting behind one of the main bookshelves, where hundreds of books filled up the scene. She had a metal trashcan that had been found outside the back door of this old house. She was busy colouring on it. But of what? Some art work, that's all. Just some plain and simple artwork. Oh Marie, the Kanker I love and many others as well. Just such an innocent, but troubled little girl. She just wanted one thing: the love and affection of a certain sock-headed young man who had stolen her heart that fateful night when love welcomed them both into the fold. But that was all water over the dam, or under the bridge, or where ever else you want it. She had this one moment to solidify that love. Maybe today would be that day. Today could be that day when destiny would take the driver's seat and take over the roller coaster ride of love. Or maybe not. That remains to be seen.

"I just hope my honey likes my drawings..." the younger Marie said as she scribbled on a little more paint. She was quite creative, the little Marie. Very neat little girl she was, and is. I can tell you as the narrorator that I am looking down at this with quite the smile, noting all the girls. Next we go over to Lee.

Lee was over near the projecting window at the front of the house. She was also busy painting a barrel of her own. She also had a strange piggy bank on which she had attached a two by four piece of wood. It was all just part of the scheme which she was proud to take ownership over. It was really something to see her smile. Smile... Something that she had not done on her own for so long. She had had no reason to smile. But something,...something gave her a reason. Something had given her hope. That hope was named Eddy.

Yes, it's true. The feelings Marie harbored for Edd, and May for Ed, Lee possessed also with Eddy. But it was difficult for her to come to terms with. Love was something that she felt would cheapen her. Love? Did that even exist? In her mind, no. But she conflicted herself with the feelings that she harbored. Now, branching off from the ad homen typical theories, why would Lee harbor feelings for the short little Eddy? One major reason, actually. She saw Eddy as the leader that her father was.

It's completely true. Eddy was a natural born leader. He held the capabilites for great leadership. He kept his band of friends together, and yet he also was able to keep a sort of light hearted realism between them. Bascially, he had every one of Butch's great qualities plus three.

Lee quickly went over to the window for a quick second. She still wanted to remain anonymous, well, at least as much as possible. She peered out at the street bellow here, and saw the very thing she wanted to see: Eddy. That kid, that kid that danced in her dreams. That kid who she saw everytime she closed her eyes. It was, well, almost too interesting to describe. That kid, Eddy, was someone who she couldn't stop thinking about, yet she could hardly imagine.

As she did so, a kid on the sidewalk, Jimmy, saw the figure with the "hideous hair-do." He immediatly alerted the rest of the kids, and this got a whole argument started. Then the Eds showed up, and that made everything practically fall into place.

"Alrigh girls, places." Lee said as she clapped her hands several times.

"Oh goodie." Marie said with her typical, though very cute, little giggle slash chuckle. It was somewhere in between, though, was not very a-typical.

Marie immedaitly grabbed a stack of books and started laying them out in a path that followed a strict order.

"Get any on ya Ed?" Eddy asked as the three boys followed up onto the front porch. Ed had just sneezed and blew the ragweed everywhere. It exposed what looked like a mellowcreme pumpkin, and a tricycle that most likely belonged to a little boy named Danny Torrence.

Once inside the house, a whole new world was opened up to the three boys. Once the door was busted down, they were shown into a house that was unlike any before. A large open ball room with a slightly conveluted stair case that lead up to a balcony. There was a large stone hearth fireplace, set apart with its white stoneage. The dainty chadelier hung from the ceiling surrounded by cob webs. There was a round table off to the side, with a cardboard box standing beside it. Where have we seen that box before? and there were several pieces of furniture that were concealed with fabric. A sole cuckoo clock hung from the wall leading up to the balcony, and struck the tone of time only a broken clock could tell.

"This house isn't haunted, it's a dump!" Eddy said as he leaned up to look around at the quite anitquated old house.

Through a seemingly typical scam, Eddy and the other two pretended to be attacked by evil spirits in order to solidify a jawbreaker for their future. On the other hand, the kids quickly caught on to their wise cracking ways, and didn't buy it for one second.

As Eddy attempted to open the door, he acciedntily knocked the knob loose while flicking a spider, and it fell through a hole in the floor. Attempting to open the door up, Eddy caught his finger in the lock panel, Ed attempted to pull him loose. In the process, he stepped back onto a loose floor panel and opened something up.

It was a music box.

A music box that revealed a ballerina dancer that twirled around and around to the sound of chipper music. Honestly, I have always found music boxes to be very annoying, so I will spend very little time on it. In my view, it has little purpose.

The music however was like a cue for the girls, for they listened with great intent and assumed their places in the basement.

When Ed finally pulled Eddy loose, it forced the three down the stairs and into the basement. They slid past a laundry room and into a mirror room. The boys had a little fun with this, before they started falling into the traps so carefully set up for them.

Double D followed the trail of books that so carefully lead up the winding white spiral staircase. Ed was led into a dumb waiter with a box of Chunk Puffs, and Eddy was lured by that piggy bank we were talking about earlier.

Each one of them followed there trails all the way through and winded up in a buch of barrels. From there, they wound up going through a little area where their clothes were stripped and they were placed in exact copies, but different barrels. These barrels had the artwork we were examining earlier.

Eddy's was of a typical wedding tuxedo, and his hat was a top hat. Double D's was of hat of a body builder, and his hat looked like something out of the Cosby Kids' last ride. Ed's was the most interesting. It was a sailor's uniform, and he had on a sailor's cap.

Now, of course May painted and set this up. How? Well, she had looked through the trailer in search of something to base the art off of, and she found this cardboard box with a picture of a man in a Navy uniform, and she found the cap to go with it. Now, May had never been told about Butch, so it was understandable that she just didn't know of the importance of this stuff, so she just used it anyway. It was just an act of innocence, and nothing more.

The barrels rode the little train down a track which showed them amorous visions of hearts, and stuffed replicas.

Eventually they arrived at a stop in a room when they hit a chest up against the wall. The lid on the chest flipped back with the force of impact.

"Is the ride over?" Ed asked, unsure, as always, as to what was going on.

At this, the three sisters rose out of the chest as if they were three phoenixes rising up from the ashes. They all had veils over their faces, and were in "dressy" clothes, if you would call them that.

"I fear it has just begun..." Double D said.

"Here come the brides..." the three sisters sang in unison as they lifted their veils. May let out a strange cat call. Very strange.

"Kankers?" Eddy asked, "brides?" as he ducked into the barrel.

"The Kankers tricked us, it's a wedding Eddy!" Double D shrieked as he ducked into the barrel.

"But I can't dance Eddy!" Ed screamed as he fell over in the barrel.

"Flower's for your bride, how sweet." May said as she picked the ragweed up out of the barrel.

"Pick up your grooms and spit out your gum..." Lee said as she picked up the phone book and started the "wedding".

In her mind, this whole thing was like a dream come true for Lee. As it was for all of them. If there was one thing the Kankers did have, it was dreams.

The "wedding" went on as the story goes. Everything went as it did, and afterwards they all went on an "after wedding drive." Now, I am not going to go into the specifics of the emotions of this at this point, because it seems almost out of place. Believe me, that bridge will be crossed at a later date.

About an hour after all the festivities, all the glamour, all that was over, Lee wandered off by herself. Her sisters went back to the trailer, while Lee went back to that old shanty house.

She wandered through the maze of stairs and halls, and found herself in that back room again. She was thinking of many, many things. One too many things for her to completely recognize. She had her hands in her pants pockets. She looked around, not really knowing what she was looking for. But she was looking in the wrong place. She should have been looking into her heart.

As she passed by the little train track leading up to the big chest, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Something she didn't immediately realize until she took a moment to think about it. It was that white sailor's cap behind one of the covered up chairs.

At first Lee didn't think about it much, but then the memory hit her like a ton of bricks. That tornado hit her life big time. She was taken out of herself, and back to that crib. That loely, dark crib that cold night in December. It was that cap that had been placed on her head.

Immediately she walked over and picked it up, brushing some of the dust off. She turned it around in her hands, and the image turned around a great deal in her mind. She could only see darkness, with a small face peering through.

Lee had to go sit down. She went to the big chest and plotted down right on the lid. She was still examining the hat, still with doubt over whether or not it was "the hat." But one thing made all her doubts disappear.

She looked at the inside, and noticed that on the tag was the name "Butch" written out in magic marker.

It hit her, and she started to whimper a little. Those emotions she tried to mask, those feelings she tried to hide. They came.

Lee wept.

She wept like she had never done before. This storm that was her life only seemed to get worse and worse as time went on. She couldn't conceal it any longer. The tears rained from her eyes. She was finally releasing those emotions, those bottled up emotions that she had concealed all her life. And yet she still felt there was no one there for her to cry on. No shoulder to rest her head on.

"Come on Lee, pull yourself togetha, you can do this. You're strong..." Lee tried to convince herself, though it just wasn't working. She put the white cap to her eyes, and all she could see was the dark melonchaly that was clouding her very soul. The rain poured, the storm raged.

"Lee, Lee, stop!" a voice that came out of nowhere said.

"Who's that?" Lee called out, lifting her head up, "who's there?"

"Why it's only me, Lee." the gentle and majestic voice said. Lee wiped some of the tears out of her eyes, and looked straight forward.

She saw a glowing figure standing infront of her. He had on all white, and his body glowed like a neon sign does in the middle of night. His face was pale but young, and his hair was just as red and curly as hers was.

"Who are you?" Lee said, very, very shocked. She jumped a little, almost as if she was looking into a mirror.

"I'm your dad..." he said with a smile. He held out his arms almost as if expecting an embrace, but did not move from his position three feet away from Lee.

Lee's crying ceased, and she pulled the hair out of her eyes to see the spirit of her father. Her loving father. The last man she had graced with both of her pretty blue eyes.

"How did you get here?" she asked, almost as if she was just speaking to an ordinary stranger.

"I'm always here. I'm always with you. Where ever you go, I am right there with you. Though you may not always see me, I am there. Turn around, look at me." he said smiling.

"Oh daddy!" Lee said, as she started sobbing again. She ran toward him to grab him in a hug, but as her arms went ot go around him, he disappeared into thin air.

"Wait, where are you?" she asked.

"I am you, Lee. You are me. And always remember, that even though you're having a difficult time now, I'll always love. I'm here anytime you need me. I am with you, until the end of time." he said, as the voice faded out and went away.

"Wait daddy wait!..." Lee called out as she cried, "Daddy!"

She knelt down on the ground, sobbing into the hat. She had seen her dad again, but wanted to see him always.

The thunder roared, the lightning struck. The storm raged.

So, here we are. Back to the present. Back to where we were before all of this. Back to Lee and Eddy leaving the root beer place. They walked down the street, hand in hand for the first time, smiles on each other's faces.

Now, Lee didn't realize it until now, but that very thing that the spirit of her father had told her was true. He was always with her. Because he was Eddy, and Eddy was always going to be apart of her heart. She had finally figured out that Eddy was what she was missing all her life. The one, true desitny was finally reached.

And though the Kankers lives had always been a storm. A blustering, violent storm, they had found the lepricons at the end of the rainbow. They were able to come to their whole selves and see the light at the end of the tunnel. The sun in between the clouds. The rainbow at the end of the storm.

Lee was the last, but she finally made it. Out of the tornado and into the lovely arms of her saving grace. She saw that never-ending rainbow, and the smile it brought to her was like nothing else she had ever experienced.

The storm had passed. And this thing happened, this magical thing. Lee, Marie, May, Eddy, Edd, and Ed all knew what it was know.

And what it was, was love.

_When you walk, _

_Through a storm, _

_keep your head up high..._

_and don't, be afraid, _

_of the dark. _

_At the end of the storm..._

_is a golden sky. _

_And the sweet silver song, _

_of a lark..._

_Walk on, _

_through the wind,_

_Walk on, _

_through the rain. _

_Though your dreams... _

_be tossed, and blown. _

_Walk on, walk on, _

_with hope...in your heart. _

_And you'll never, ever walk alone..._

_You'll never walk alone. _

_Walk on... Walk on..._

_with hope in your heart _

_And you'll never, _

_no you'll never walk alone..._

_You'll never walk..._

_alone..._

**End of Part I. **

Anyway, that is the end of Part I. I hope you all enjoyed it. Part II will begin next week probably.

Thank you all for reading, and let me know what you think of the story so far. I'd love to hear from you all.

Expect updates soon.

Shackleford.


	71. Chapter LXXI

Well folks, I'm back, and better than ever. That's right, Part Deux of Come and Go with Ed is a go.

Just to answer some reader questions refering to how the story is going to go, as well as my schedule, here it is:

I plan on taking the story to 150 chapters. Or CL. Now, the overall goal is to reach 500,000 words. I should be able to get to that.

The story, if my time table is correct, the story should be finished by Christmas. Probably before then, but we'll see.

As far as updates, I update everyday at 11:00PM. So if you are looking for the latest chapters, that's when they go up.

I hope I have cleared up any confusion.  
Shackleford.

Stand by for justice…

**Part II: What a Wonderful World…**

Chapter LXXI

Well, here we are. At this scene in out story. We are back to Lee and Eddy, walking down the sultry sidewalk of downtown Peach Creek. They walked with an almost adult walk, different from kids. It was almost as if when you see an elderly couple walking down the street, or in the mall, or where ever else you might see such a couple together. Eddy and Lee, what else can you say? These two made such a different, yet vaguely unique couple together. As if they, like Marie with Double D, and Ed with May, were meant to be together all long. Was it destiny, or divine, poetic justice that brought these two together? Possibly. And probably. You have to think about that and decide for yourself, however. I can't force you to succumb to any of my strange theories. I can only present the facts and allow you to come to that conclusion on your own.

"You know Eddy, you're a pretty neat guy, ya know that?" Lee told him as she leaned down to him. The height difference is just such a killer, you know.

"Ah, come on Lee. I'm nuttin' compared to you. You're just, wow." Eddy replied, moving his hands around as he talked. He was just trying to exemplify his emotions through physical gestures and the like. That was how Eddy tried to portray his feelings. Because we all know Eddy thinks that he's God's gift to women. We've seen it time and time again. But know he actually had a woman to give his "gift to, in a way.

Now back to the little shop were Marie and Double D, as well as Ed and May were left. They just stayed in where they were, not rally trying to over analyze the situation, But they were shocked none the less. Shocked at what? Well, shocked at Eddy and Lee. They way they both had overcome their emotions so well. They way they had pulled through so long, and so hard. They were finally at the apex of all understanding between them. In a sort of quasi realism, they both knew what was going on. They were on top, just as May and Ed and Marie and Double D before them.

Made it ma, top of the world…

But there is one person we haven't looked into yet, among the sisters anyway. That person was May. Happy-go-lucky, silly, goofy, slightly dumb May. That girl that we know so little of it seems, after exploring both Marie and Lee. It seems as though she is almost the proverbial odd man out here. But May probably has the most impacting and, dare I say, emotionally impacting past yet. But, what about Lee? Surely her past is enough to lay any competition to rest, correct? False. Yes, Lee does have the roughest and arguably most devastating past, but that doesn't necessarily make it the most emotional.

So, what's so emotional about May's background? Well, it's not necesarrily _her _background that is the most emotional, but the events leading up to that event that are the most detailing. The events that occured just prior to her birth set up the entire set of motions that lead up to everything that would become of the Kankers. And May would almost feel the burden of her life because of it. She would pretty much be forced into this emotional corner by her sisters because of her father, Rod.

Let's see the story before the story, so to speak. Let's go back to that time after Lee, but before Marie and Lee. What led to the birth of Marie and then of Lee. What happened? We've heard it through the notions of the story told by Rod, but what will happen when we see the story unfold when we are projected into the middle of it? Let's find out.

It was a soft late winter day in 1996. The cool crisp air blew through the good old city of Detroit, Michigan. The snow that covered the ground was starting to melt as the sun was shinning high above the lofty town. It was warmer than usual, around 55 degrees Farenheit. The air was warm to anyone who knows northern winters, however, it was still cold enough to the point where a person would need a jacket. Chilly, to say the least. However, the wind will still howling, and made the air feel much colder than it actually was. Wind chills were down in the forties. So it just felt like a slightly warmer winter day, pretty typical for this part of the country this time of year. It was a dead cold, a cold without pity.

This is where our story begins.

Pretty typical day. The time, about nine in the morning, give or take. The wind whisteled by as the clouds roared around the celestrial blue sky up above. The sun was shinning brightly, though, little warmth was given by it. The snow that covered the ground was all piled up along the streets from weeks ago when the plows had come through and pushed them up, not to mention all the residents that had shoveled their sidewalks and piled them on as well. But after so long that snow starts to deteriorate, if you could call it that. It starts to develop that sooty look, you know, that black substance that gets on the snow from the asphalt of the street. And it starts to get dirty with brown mud it melts into the green yards, turning it into nasty sticky mud. And it stays like that for weeks, and weeks, and weeks.

But for the most part the snow was gone. From the yards at least. There were still vagrant patches that covered scattered yards, but that was also starting to melt away by the heat of the sun.

On our favorite block of West Parkland Street, was the house that Barbara Kanker was now living in. The house that also housed her parents. Though she loved her parents with a love that was unequal in just about any measurement, she couldn't help but feel very embarrassed and under-par for having to live with them agian, especially since she had a young daughter and what not. It just wasn't easy to scrape by. She was forced to live in the small little guest room under the stairs in her parent's house. It was only large enough for one person to sleep, maybe, buta person and a baby? Hardly, but Barbara still mad dues with what she had. It was better than being on the streets or in the projects, and that's all that mattered to her. She was just thankful for the fact that her parents were being so kind and loving to her by letting her stay there. But, that is what parents are for. To be there when they are needed.

She had been living there for two months, and was already getting the hang of this business. She worked from seven to eleven, so she had plenty of time to kill in the day time. However, she was much more of a night life person her self. She practically suffered from insomnia, and found sleeping almost impossible to due in some instances. But she still pressed on, trying her best to make it through life while still providing for her family. And that, is what mattered to her the most. Getting the best future possible for her little baby Lee. She saw Lee as almost a part of herself, a part of herself that she just couldn't let go no matter how hard she tried. If anything were to happen to Lee, it would be like something happening to her. And she would never, ever forgive herself if something were to happen.

As I said earlier, it was about 9 AM, and the morning routine was just beginning for Barbara. She rolled out of bed, looking at the roll-dial, old fashioned alarm clock that stood on her night stand, right next to her lamp and picture of her passed husband. Those things that meant more to her than anything in the world, were right here in this room with her. Lee of course, being the most important one.

Lee was a little older now. About half a year, or six months to the technically technical people out there. She had become much more mature. Her red curls now dangled in her eyes, and her little legs were taking steps now, though gradual as they were. She was beginning to mumble her first pronunciations, though nothing officially considered a word yet. At least not in the eyes of people who speak the English language. In other countries, her words could possibly be considered words. I know I have some readers in the Netherlands, who know that Dutch is very similar to English, so maybe Lee was already speaking Dutch, who knows. I certainly don't.

She sat in her crib, playing with her little toys that she had in her possession. Just her usual favorites. The letter blocks, the rattle, and what ever the hell else it is babies play with. She looked pretty happy, as happy as a baby can be I guess. Her view of the world was completely small at this point, and the happiness she felt was only as large as life she had to feel it with.

Her mother walked over to the crib, and looked down at her daughter with the only smile she could conjure up at the moment. It was the only smile that she could honestly give a moments thought to, and yet, she felt ultimately shocked by the fact that a smile had crossed her face, the first genuine smile she had had in months. It was overwhelming, and yet, it was symphonic at the same time.

What is a symphony? A symphony is a concert where you have different elements of sound (winds, brass, strings, percussion, etc) coming together to make one piece of music. Every sound is unique, every sound is crucial. One instrument out of tune, one drum off beat, can throw the entire concert piece off. And that is just like what is going on now. Everything in life has a sheet of music to go by. We all have that sheet of music to go by through life. How we play that music however, is what makes the difference.

For most people, we play fairly well. Sometimes things are off pace or out of tune. But we buck up and play through the bad parts, and we thrive through the good parts. We can all agree that life is hard, and so is playing an hour long symphony. So we play through the bad, cherish the good, and love the great.

For some people though, life is very challenging. They hit sour notes constantly. They play a b flat when they should be playing an F sharp. They play in A minor when they should be in G major. They have a treble clef with a bass instrument. Sometimes their sheet music is so screwed up, they can't tell the difference between a silence bar and a flagged note. Those are the people who typically view their lives as miserable and hollow, never filling up to their full potential. Their sheet music is of melancholy and distress. Calling out for a rewrite, but never getting.

These are the people like Barbara Kanker, and to a lesser extent, her daughters.

She walked out of her room, leaving the door cracked, in an almost non-chalant way. It was early morning, so obviously her parents were up and alert in their typical morning rituals. Hans Kanker, who we know as Grandpa by know, was in his TV watching chair, doing, what else, but watching TV. It was an old 60's style TV, with a white outer shell and rabbit ear anntenas sitting on top, trying so desperatley to pull in a good reception.

"Hey Barbara, get over here a sec, would ya?" the old man said, leaning over the back of his chair to see her out of the corner of his eye.

"What is it dad?" she asked him as she walked over and stood over by his chair. He looked a little impatient and grumpy, but that was his typical look.

"Does your mother have my oatmeal ready yet? She knows I get testy if I don't get my oatmeal by 9:30." he said as he grunted and growled under his breath. An old man and his oatmeal shouldn't be seperated.

"I can go see, do you want me to bring it to you too?" she asked, practically poking fun of him at this point.

"Well, it's not gonna just take legs and walk in here, is it?" he asked is a sarcastic tone. He was getting very impatient about his breakfast.

"Okay, okay daddy. I'll get it for you a minute." Barbara said as she placed her hand on his arm in a calming manner. After his face had lightened up a bit, she walked out and toward the kitchen, in search of his missing oatmeal.

Walking in the rather large kitchen, she saw her mother, Marie Kanker. Yes, her mother's name is also Marie, and that is where our Marie got her name. More on that later though.

Her mother, who we will identify as grandma, looked a lot like our Marie as well. Her head was more oval shapped, and she had short brunette/gray hair that hung aroung her face. She only had two freckles under each eye though, accenting a slight difference.

"What is he talkin' about in there?" she asked Barbara as she walked over the counter where Grandma was doing somthing over her shoulder.

"He wants to know where his oatmeal is..." Barbara said as she sat down on one of the stools that was behind the counter that stuck out from the main countertops.

"Here," Grandma said, pushing the china bowl filled with the yellow goop to Barbara, with a spoon, "and tell him he knows where he can stick it too." Grandma said. Now maybe we know where the three sisters get their firery attitudes from.

"Dang mom, you sure are pretty fiesty today!" Barbara exclaimed as she grabbed the bowl up and proceded to carry it into living room to her father.

"Well, your father's been screaming about that stupid oatmeal since he got up at six o'clock this morning. I got tired of hearing it." she said. "How's little Lee doing?" she asked.

"Oh, she's doing pretty good. she slept all night last night." Barbara replied.

"That's a first,.." Grandma said as she took a cloth to wipe off the counter top. She was an obsessive clean freak, and was terrified at the slight sight of a crumb or smear anywhere in the house.

"You've got that right..." Barbara replied, as she headed back through the door way and into the living room.

Here you go dad, your precious oatmeal..." Barbara said sarcastically as she handed the bowl to her aged father sitting in his chair.

"There ain't no sugar in here, is there? She knows I can't eat it with sugar..."

"Hans, you can take the sugar container and shove it!" Grandma's voice from the kitchen yelled out.

"Don't tell me about my life, devil woman!" Grandpa called out to her, though in a playful voice. This was their relationship. Quirky, but it worked. Barbara couldn't help but chuckle at their antics.

"So," Grandpa asked, mushing on his spoonful of oatmeal, "got any plans for today?" he asked her.

"Well, I have to go get the oil changed in the car, and after that I don't know." Barbara said, putting her hands into her pocket.

"I'd change your oil for ya, but, you know, the art-ur-itis." he said, holding out a mangled hand like that of Fred G. Sanford.

"Don't you even start on that arthiritis kick again, Hans. The doctor just says you're lazy!" Grandma called out again from the kitchen.

"Don't make me get up from this chair!" Grandpa said jokingly as he pretended to get up from his chair.

"Let me know when you do, I'll alert the paramedics." Grandma called out with a slight chuckle. Grandpa also let out a small chuckle as he presented that sinster Kanker grin. He sat back in his chair again and resumed his breakfast.

Barbara then went and grabbed her coat and slid it on, and talked to her dad again as she buttoned the buttons up.

"I'm leavin' dad. Lee's in the crib in the room, the doors open. Don't forget she has to be changed in a couple hours."

"Alright, go ahead." Grandpa said as he motioned his hand at her, "we'll take care of everything."

"Thanks dad, you're the best." Barbara said as she hugged him in the chair. He hugged her back and patted his hands on her back.

"You too honey, you too."

And with that, Barbara left.


	72. Chapter LXXII

Just to clear up any further confusion, the guy in my profile picture is indeed me.

Also, I have officially topped 20 favorites! That's right, we've made it! And I have no one to thank more than you as the readers. To my English readers, thank you. Met mijn Nederlandse lezers, dank u. Ai miei lettori italiani, grazie. Para mis lectores españoles, gracias. Un uz manu latviešu lasītājam, paldies.

Hope I have covered you all,

Shackleford.

Chapter LXXII

As Barbara went out the front door, it was blistering cold outside. The temperature had dropped as the sun ducked behind some clouds that dotted and fluttered about the sky. Fairly typical, but nothing too much. The temperature was now about 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 degree Celsius for my European readers). The wind that was blowing much colder, much crisper. It was like on giant sigh of relief going over the entire city, the entire world.

We can't help but imagine that God must sigh every now and then. Even He gets fed up with it all, I guess.

Barbara could feel some tears come over her face, as they trickled down in the cold winter air. They practically froze to her face, but they didn't have to. they were already frozen into her heart.

Barbara hurried over to her car, buring her face deep into her coat, keeping the wind from burning it off. The wind rubbed againt her cheeks anyway, but did not give them that horrible feeling that usually comes when cold wind hits you. No, it was like a hand,...like some,...some gentle hand grasping her cheek. She couldn't ignore it. The feeling was just too much for her to deal with. It was a feeling of relief, in a way. And yet,...now that I think about it, it was also like a resivour of hope for her. All that she had lost, all that empty space that now filled her heart, was slightly filled in a way. For accompining that gentle brushing of the face was a voice.

"It's gonna be okay, Barbara. I'm always with you.  
Turn around, look at me..."

The voice was so familiar. So,..so familiar. It was almost as if she had heard that voice a thousand times before. She didn't know what to think at first, of course, I don't think anyone would. A feeling that strong is fairly tough to ignore, let alone ponder for any period of time. But she quickly turned around without hesitation. She turned around, to face what was calling her.

There stood Butch, right there clear as day. His face couldn't be anymore distinct, nor could his smile be anymore real. That smile, that smile that she had not seen in so long. That smile that had been engrained into her mind, now standing right before her in an almost Clarksian "seen before being seen, knowing before being known" sense. It was more than an out of body experience. It was an out of soul experience.

She couldn't believe it,..yet she did. She had to believe this was really the real him, standing before her in the freezing temperatures and heavy snow. It was his face. It is,...his face.

She immediatley grinned her lovely grin as the near freezing tears flowed down her red face. The wind tossed her short brunette hair all over her head as she took such small,..small steps toward this spirit that was standing before her. The foot prints she left in the snow trailed her feet as she took step by step, step by step toward the figure that was standing before her.

He only looked at her with a smile, a smile that could have caused all the snow around them to melt. It was that powerful, that composing, that demonstrating. It was a smile that warmed Barbara's heart beyond sight or sound. Beyond all comprehension.

Again, step by step, she made her way toward him. Each step followed the last in an almost repeating cycle. It looked almost as though,...as though it was simply too amazing to believe. But believing is understanding.

She then hurries as fast as she could in the thick snow. Her shoes were soaking wet, and her pant's legs were already stained from the water of the melting snow. But she didn't care. This was a moment where she didn't quite understand what was going on, yet, she had to do something. She ran,..ran toward him.

And just as she went to grab him in a tight embrace, he simply waved and vanished, vanished into thin air. Poof, he was gone. Gone away from her once more. Gone, never to be seen again.

Barbara fell into the snow infront of her as she reached out to grab the thing that was not there. Her arms only wrapped around air as she hit the ground and sobbed. She sobbed, like nothing else. Like someone had ripped the earth from her shoulders and slamed it right back on. The only thing she felt was pain. The pain in her heart that would just not go away. Tear drops, they fell.

Barbara wept.

_Yesterday's a dream,  
I face the mornin'  
Cryin' on a breeze,  
The pain is callin'..._

She just laid there in the snow for about a minute or so, the tears that would not cease, the feelings that would not go away. That pain that could not be quenched.

She had to get up. There was no use in lying on the ground, sobbing for nothing, yet crying for something. She had done enough of it over the months. Crying time was over, living time was now. For truly, what is life for other than to live?

She walked toward her old car, the little water droplets that trinkled down from the melting snow on the roof. Whe staggered toward it gradual steps, steps like she was just learning how to walk. But she wasn't learning how to walk. She was learning how to walk alone...

She finally made it to the car, though she didn't see how. She jiggled with the car key for a minute before opening the door and sitting down in the driver's seat. She felt a little more relief, though not much. At least she was a little more relaxed, a little more focused on what she was doing, instead of what had just happend. She wiped the frozen tears away from her face and rubbed her eyes with her gloved hand.

Then,..then she glanced over the the yard. The yard she had just treaded though. The yard that she had just struggled though. She had no idea how she had even walked over the the car, for she felt like her legs couldn't move at all. It was a mystery to her, but she still gazed at the snow-covered ground in amazment, thankful that at least she had gotten up and into the car.

But as she looked at the ground, she saw something that made her world light into a fire of emotion.

Right next to her foot steps, were matched foot steps right besider hers. Every step she had taken to the car, there were foot steps beside them. Every single step.

She felt a little tear drip down from her eye as she looked up at the roof of the car. She blinked her eyes a couple times, to make sure this wasn't just make believe. She glanced again, and the two sets of foot steps still went toward the car.

And then, out of nowhere, she heard a voice call down to her and say,

"You'll never walk alone."

She started up the car and drove away, leaving this sight that she believed to be more fantasy than reality. She honestly couldn't tel the difference anymore, and it was getting hard to tell anything from anything with her. Her life was slowly becoming a book that turned its own pages, or a movie that skipped its own scenes. It was unstoppable, yet somewhat controllable at the same time. Who knows, but I do know this, it won't be the last of it. But there was a force, a subtle, cosmic force that was acting on all of this.

Driving down the road, Barbara could see everything that was going on with in the inner city around her. She could see all the snow piled up on the sides of the roads, and especially the snow that was melting into the street, leaving streaked marks where the water was running rampant. The white piles had turned into black piles over the months that it had been there, and the melting process had turned once giant piles into small, miniature piles, basically being remnants of the snow that once was. Nothing but remnants.

All that remains is what cannot be seen.

The city was actually quite active this Friday morning. Plenty of people in coats and hats were strolling the streets to the tune of the last day of the work week. Happy people ready to cash paychecks and take out loans to make ends meet, however this was before the economic recession, so people actually had money to spend. But of course that is delving into politics, which is something I try to avoid at all costs.

There was one very common thing among the stores that went up and down the street. They all had pink and red decorations everywhere. Every where you turned. To be honest, Valentine's Day has always, always been my least favourite holiday for numerous reasons, so I don't wish to delve into it too much. But it must be noted that it was February 15th, the day after Valentine's Day. It was indeed Barbara's first one since Butch died, so it was quite difficult for her to grasp that whole idea. Maybe that was just another reason why her mental decay had grown drastically worse. Realizing those truths was something that made her quite meek to say the least, and caused her to become quite humble.

She felt no anger for the people that did have someone for the holiday. She figured that there will always be lonely people on Valentine's Day, that's nothing new. There is nothing remotely new in that. In fact, Valentines Day pretty much just makes loneliness more relevant. As if all the lonely people don't know how lonely they are, they have to look at the shop windows all decorated up, the stores all decked out with candies and flowers. Banners and such of red and pink stretched vast distances as the shop owners were beginning to dismantle them. It's always worse when a holiday's over, because all the excitement is gone, all the emotion. Nothing is left but an empty reminder of what was. Just lots and lots of empty reminders.

Regardless of what else was going on on the outside world, within her own world, Barbara had her won priorities to maintain. Her own priorities.

She barely knew the meaning of the word anymore.

Back at the house, Lee was just getting up from her mid-morning nap. She was just such a cute little baby, deaming everything about herself. Even at that early age, she had that will to lead. It was almost as if she was destined to become a great leader. And in many ways, she was. But in many ways, she was just a little baby. Just a baby. Not a care in the world but her immediate surroundings. That's all that mattered to her. Just the immediate people in her life. Especially her grandparents. They would have a definite impact on Lee, as well as Marie (we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.) Her grandparents would have pivital role in the early development for Lee. And their crazy romantic antics would be the foundation of what Lee would come to thing of love as being: two people who can pick at each other and still be able to say "I love you" at the end of the night. That is what love is to her. That is what she imagined love would be for her in the future.

Good guessing, cause she was right.

Grandpa Kanker, or "Opa" as he was called by his grandkids later on, walked into the bedroom where Lee was located. He looked down and saw her laying right where she'd been left. She was laying on her back in the bottom of the crib, and she looked up to the ceiling and gurgled and smiled at the face that greeted her. It was the face of her Opa, the kind old man that he was.

"Hey there little thing how are you today?" he asked her in a babyish type voice. He wasn't very good with babies, or kids in general. But he tried his best to act sweet and nice to her, even though he had to try as hard as he could. But it was for Lee, and only Lee.

The baby Lee just smiled back at him, but made no noise or anything. Just the expression. That was all.

"Hey Marie, is this thing broken or somethin?" he called out to his wife who was in the living room, dusting off the furniture.

"Shut up Hans, I'll be in there in a minute, and don't touch anything!" Grandma called back as she continued her dusting.

"Why would I touch anything, it's just a baby!" he said, shrugging his shoulders with his arm motion.

"Oh, Lee,..." Grandma said. She thought her husband was refering to a remote or a piece of technology of some type. Little did she know he was talking about the baby. She quickly out her duster down and ran into the bedroom, to see what was going on.

"What's goin' on in here?" she demanded as she saw her husband leaning over the crib, still looking down at Lee just as he was five minutes ago.

"I came in here to check on the baby and saw that she was just layin' there. I don't know what to do!" he said as he turned around and faced his wife.

"Well, did you say anything to her?" Grandma asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"I just said a few words, nothin' else. All she did was lay there and smile at me." he responded, showing her what he was talking about by bringing her over the crip and showing her the little baby Lee that lay there, still in the same position. The only thing that had changed was her facial expression, which was now tight and frustrated.

Grandma Kanker took one look at the baby before she nearly wanted to slap her husband because of his general tossing out the window of common sense, something that his granddaughter May would greatly inherit from him.

Grandma Kanker took one look at the baby before she nearly wanted to slap her husband because of his general tossing out the window of common sense, something that his granddaughter May would greatly inherit from him. A sort of whimsical, blissful ignorance that can only come from a major lack in common sense that can only come from years of experience in the practice of it.

There's nothin' wrong with her you big dummy, she's just needs to be changed." Grandma said as she picked Lee up out of the crib and brought her over into the living room, setting her down on the sofa so she could changer her diaper.

"Well then, I'll let you do the honers..." Grandpa said as he stuck up his hands and walked into the kitchen, trying to get away from the smell that the diaper gave off.

"What's the matter, scared?" she asked with that devilish Kanker grin that was so normal to us all now.

"Scared? Ha! That'll be the day…" he said as he chuckled at her, going into the kitchen.

"I think he meant 'those were the days'." Grandma chuckled to herself as she was busy changing the little baby. She quickly grabbed the diaper from next to Lee and began the process. It had been so long since she had changed diapers, she could hardly remember how to do it. However, she still had it in her. She had always been the mothering kind, and took to it very easily. Something Lee would also do as well,…

Now, we all know that grandparents try their best with what they have. At least most of them anyway. Grandparents are usually much more nice than our parents, at least from my experience anyway. My grandma was my best friend, and always will be. I'm not afraid to admit it. And neither would the Kankers later in life. In fact, their grandma and Opa would be the people they turned to the most when they were in need of guidance and assistance.

And yet, the elder Kanker grandparents were some of the most similar to the Kanker sisters out of anybody. Grandpa Kanker possessed Marie's gentleness and kindness, not to metion looks, as well as May's lack of common sense and general ignorance. And Grandma Kanker possessed Marie's devilishness, not to mention that grin, and Lee's quick thinking, and especially her quick wit. All in all, the Kanker sisters possessed most of the traits of their grandparents, who were the people who would be there for them in their darkest hours.

No one would quite understand that Kankers like their grandparents, who would be able to delve into their mysteries far more than any one else in their lives. No one for a while at least.


	73. Chapter LXXIII

Since there still seems to be confusion, the story will be at least 150 chapters, maybe more.

Shackleford.

Song used in this chapter:

watch?v=hXddO7w5dXM&feature=related

Chapter LXXIII

Barbara was still driving down these same old roads. These same barren, empty roads that seemed like such dry wastelands of memories, every last one of them. They seemed to be miles apart, emotionally speaking, and yet so close together physically speaking. Everything about these streets was almost a moment of times passed, and memories forgotten. Barbara had grown up on these streets. These streets paved with memories. How could she forget them? It seems almost cliché now, being the face that she would end up moving into a trailer park inside some small sub-community in Ohio. But now, all that was almost forgotten in a way. For even though those events had indeed not even taken place yet, they hung over Barbara like a dank cloud on a nice sunny day. The fact that her children would not be able to grow up in the same loving way that she did. Every parent wants their children to grow up better than they did, but when that simply was out of the question as in Barbara's case, it was simply too much to ignore. The proverbial Prodigal Son, that in itself being the proverbial chickens coming home to roost. The writing on the wall was crystal clear, and anyone without rose-colored glasses could plainly see what was happening here. Her parents could see it more plainly than anybody. Perhaps they possessed the ability to look over what her act was and see her true feelings.

In a phrase, one could call her feelings scared.

Scared? What is scared? Scared, in my view, is knowing something is going to happen, but still being unable to stop it. That is what separates being scared from fear. Fear is when your emotions tell you one thing, and reality presents something else. That something else being horror. Now, we've already covered horror in great detail in the past. We know what we think we know about horror, given its strange and,…dare I say fearful implications. Horror, to be blunt, is just emotional fear. Being scared is rational fear. Fear of the un-fearable. A paradox in itself and of itself, but isn't the whole Kanker family just one big paradox when you think about it? Or, we can go even further to say that life itself is one big paradox, but I feel I would be stepping out of the coach's corner my saying those things.

Life has meaning, yes. No more so than to the Kanker family. When I stop to think about it, why do people always question why life has a meaning? Or if life has a meaning? We saw this when Marie was on the razors edge* of suicide. She took into consideration that since Double D (in her mind at least) didn't care about her life, that it had no substance. No reason to go on. So she contemplated it, and pondered it profusely. She felt that since she was on the path to nowhere, and that path ending in a dead end, she saw nothing else to do but take the call of duty of the "dead end" and take it literally. By taking her own life, she thought she would be doing society a favor by getting rid of a problem. Little did she know at that time that she was not the problem, but the solution. She was that one Kanker sister, that one person who had proverbially stood up and said "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore." She was the one who had the capacity to do it.

She was unlike Lee in the face that she had not sealed off her heart in a tight lock. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She had opened her heart for no one else but Double D to fill it. His heart was the only thing that she figured would help her regain focus. Focus from it all. From the situation that she had been caught in. This limbo she thought her life had become. She honestly started to think that she had died as a baby, and was just going through Purgatory, making up ground for some sin she didn't know she had committed. Some soul she thought she had lost on her way to find out who she really was. Who was she, or better question, who is she? Who is Marie Kanker? (At this point, we are talking about pre-relationship Marie, not post) Was she really this rebellious hoodlum that everyone had thought she was, or was she just, deep down, a caring and emotional girl, who was turn between her family and her feelings. Her reality, and her dreams. Dreams, I think that word has brought new meaning to itself over the course of 191,000 words before it. 191,000 typed and printed words, and none of them more irrelevant than the word dreams. How can 'dreams' irrelevant, considering the plain fact that we have based so much of the Kankers on their quote/unquote 'dreams'? Well, not to burst any bubbles or let any cats out of the proverbial bag, but the Kankers never had dreams. Not one single dream. How is this? How can this be? Did I,…did I just say what I said? Well, of course I did. And I can probe it. The Kankers never had one single dream. They had visions.

Yes, they had visions. When each of them, (in this case, I will illustrate with Marie) closed their eyes and looked into their hearts, they did not see dreams. Dreams are just simply images our mind uses to keep us in animation long enough for the brain to fully rest. Dreams are nothing, nothing. But visions are something, however. Visions are when Marie would look beyond even her heart, and look into her very soul, and see nothing, _nothing _but the face of Double D. Hear nothing but his gentle voice, mellowing her ears over all the arguing and anger that surrounded her, and most importanty, feel nothing but the love that the two shared mutually. So my friends, if we are to look past the blatant, in your face evidence, we should take into consideration the more, abstract thinking, if you like. We should take nothing at face value, and in my opinion, face value is a highly-tuned oxymoron. There is no value in the image of something. There is only value in the vision of something.

Now, back to the original topic at hand. Marie, up to that point we brought up, felt as if there was no where else she could turn to escape reality. But reality is reality, no one can change that. Reality is what makes us realize that we cannot change it. If we could change reality, we would all be in some warped fantasy land. And no one wants that. Nope, no one.

Anyway, Marie finally realized the fact that Double D _was _her reality. He was that future for her to cling on to, not in hope, but _knowledge _of the fact that he would always be there for her, no matter what the cost should be. He was there for her, through the good, through the bad. No one thing could separate the love they had, the love they have, and the love they will always have.

No matter what, Edd and Marie will always be.

Anyway, back to the original plot we were going to before the distraction, surely know we can truly realize life does not have meaning. Life _is _meaning. For Marie, that meaning is Double D, and the same could be said about Double D for Marie. They find that both of their lives don't truly have completion until they both came together. But we have discussed this before, so this is nothing new to us, this conversation.

Now we are back to the source of all this. We are back in the car with Barbara, rolling down the streets of Detroit, seemingly, yet, somehow captivatingly, on a road to nowhere. Honestly, where else did Barbara have to go at this points. Her card game was coming closer and closer to ending in a stalemate, if you could call it that. She certainly had everything to gain, yet nothing to lose. In her mind at least, she had nothing. What is that probaby infamous quote, "when you've got nothin', you've got nothin' to lose." But Barbara, nor Lee, nor Marie, nor even May had nothing. They all had what would soon be everything. Everything to them, at least, when you think of it that way.

The streets, again paved with memories. Some good, some bad, some just plain unpleasent. But there was one thing that this street would never forget. The love. That's right, the love. The love that would be born here would never be touched by anything else out there.

Any yet...when I think about it, the cul-de-sac would be pretty much the heaven compared to this Purgatory, being as though it had the proverbial "streets paved with love" more so than this street in Detroit. The cul-de-sac held the capacities to literally change the lives of six kids and their families. And their lives would be drastically changed, not just now, but forever and ever. That, is why the Kankers sisters acted as the metaphorical Lots, never looking back on the destruction that was left behind them in their past. They only looked foreward to their wonderful lives with their wonderful new boyfriends. That is all that mattered to them. But Barbara was the one who acted as the metaphorical Lot's wife, looking back at the past, and forever being caught in the salt pillar that was her guilt.

Driving down the road, many different things came to her mind as all that changed was the sceneray.

Riding down the road that seemed to be going nowhere, Barbara Kanker could see a bright future ahead of her. She didn't know how or why, but she could just sense it with in herself. Some where, deep down inside. She could practically hear destiny calling out, calling out from so far away. It was just far enough away to not be audible, and yet in the same way, it was just audible to make out, though not very clearly.

The sun was shinning brightly as early morning turned into mid-morning as ten o'clock rolled about. It was interesting to say the least, though there was something in the air on which the breeze blew. That air carried a carefully placed feeling of love, that cannot be denied.

I know now, oh I finally know now, that you should never deny true love entrance into your heart. For when you shut out love, you shut out the world.

But Barbara still felt that pain. That pain with in her heart that just wouldn't go away. For one more time, one final time, she just had to let it all out.

Barbara wept.

_..Even now, _  
_When I never hear your name.._  
_And the world has changed so much, _  
_since you've been gone. _

_..Even now, I still remember,.. _  
_and the feeling's still the same. _  
_And this pain inside of me _  
_goes on and on..._

_Even now... _

_Even now, when I have come so far, _  
_I wonder where you are... _  
_I wonder why it's still so hard without you... _

_Even now,... _  
_When I come shinning through, _  
_I swear I think of you. _  
_And God I wish you knew... _  
_Somehow... _

_Even now..._

Barbara hit Kemper Street, the street on which most of the automotive shops and garages were. There was just no room for them in the inner-city, and honestly, most of the ones that had been in the city had packed up and moved, due to the vermin that were starting to fill up in the streets. Vermin, scum, horrible, horrible people. People that have no refuse for any human life. I once had someone ask why do these garbage sacks do things like take the lives of people like our old pal Butch, and the lives of many other law enforcement officers that only do their duty, and their job. And my answer to that question would have to be that I don't know. I simply don't know. I wish I could tell you. But I know what you're thinking "come on, you've taken over 23 chapters to analyze why the Kankers are the way they are, surely trying to analyze the minds of a few criminals wouldn't be so hard to do." Well, you all have a point there, but I must say that criminals have no mind. If they did, they wouldn't do the things they do. These people are so mentally warped that I don't think they even know what emotions are anymore. In their minds, it is them and the world. That's it. I have cracked the code. Criminals who isolate themselves from the rest of us don't see people as individuals anymore. They don't see mothers and mothers, fathers as fathers, grandmass grandmas, kids as kids, or even policemen as policemen. They only see "the world." That's it. People aren't individuals to them anymore. They just make up the huge conglomerate of society, taking no face, no identity. Because truly that's how criminals feel. They feel as though the world has collectively turned against them, given up on them. So they, in turn, turn their back on the world. They feel that the world, people, society, etc don't care about them, therefore they see no need to care about the world, people, or society anymore. They take on that warped lifestyle, that warped way of thinking, and it doesn't ever go away. It just gets worse and worse over time.

All in all, it's just another brick in the wall…

I don't know how many times I've said this, but Barbara drove. This was a very long road indeed, for almost all of the automotive care was done here (after all, this is Detroit, the motor city.) the shops were numerous and plentiful, and honestly competition and capitalism is at its finest in instances like this. It just brings that sense of America, ah America. (and don't worry, to my Dutch readers, you'll be getting a touch of your homeland soon enough.)

There was one garage that Barbara frequented a lot. _Levi's Stop and Lube. _It was one of the best in the city, no contest, and presented itself as such. It was certainly the cleanest, as the owner was a very strict neat freak. There was a lot of mystery that surrounded the owner of the establishment. Not much is known about them, and none of them had really ever been seen by the plebians of the city.

Pulling into the parking lot, Barbara pulled up to the very front, and heard the always familiar *ding ding* of the bells as she drove over the cable. Two men were sitting on the edge of the concrete sidewalk that went up to the front door of the lobby of the little lube shop. Four garage bay doors were wide open as a couple cars were suspended from the hydraulic lifts, as they had men working on them.

Barbara smiled at the two men as they walked up to her car. One of them, a man with an oval shaped head and oval shaped eyes, leaned in the car window and smiled back at her.

"Can we help you, ma'am?" he asked in a very thick Boston-metro accent, an accent that was enough to actually park a car in Harvard yard.

"Un yes, I was going to get my oil changed today, if you all aren't too busy." she said, smiling back.

"Why yes, I think we can do that. All you have to do is step out and we'll handle the rest. The lobby's in there, and we'll have it ready in about, oh, fifteen minutes or so." he said as Barbara popped the door open and stepped out, walking up to the lobby. The guys took the car and pulled it into one of the bays to get to work on it. Barbara smiled with a half smile as she opened the door to the lobby and walked in.

The atmosphere was very calming and soothing. Almost too soothing. The heat was on and felt great, coming out of the cold outside. A muzak version of Barry Manilow's _Mandy _played over the loudspeaker, and gave a nice little, gentle touch to the whole scene. It definently added a flare to it, what ever it was. All I can say is that Barbara felt different. She felt relieved, as if the world had been taken from her shoulders and all the Atlas-ian struggles she had felt before were gone in an instant. Never to be seen again.

She sat down in one of those chairs. You know, the same ones that you have sit in when you wait for the doctor. Those same uncomfortable, bootleg, tacky naugahide faux-leather seats that make you want to tear them to shreds. You know, you know.

Around herself, Barbara saw this was very different from your usual lube station. There were no tires haning from the wall, nor the smell of grease or rubber. The tile floor was waxed to a polished finish, and a Star of David hung behind the counter. A Torah scroll was postioned on the wall as well, a decorative piece. The whole place smelled of sweet incense, as it wafted in from a back room.

"Must be Jewish..." Barbara said, reflecting the ownership. She saw a portrait on the wall of a gray haired man in a suit, most likely the owner of the place.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, several men walked out of the back. The two infront were workers in the normal jumpsuits and baseball caps. Behind them was a man in a gray business suit. He was short, quite short actually, only about 5'6". He had a very oval shaped head and dark, oval shaped eyes. His nose was prodominantly different than that of anyone that Barbara had ever seen. He looked like a much younger version of the man that hung on the wall. She looked into his eyes, and felt something. She couldn't really tell what it was, though, she could tell the feeling was differnet than what she was feeling fifteen minutes ago in the car.

Behind the man was another short man. He was in a strange looking jacket, and had a shaw around his shoulders. A red neck tie was visible under it all, and a skull cap adorned his head. He was a rabbi.

"Thanks Rabbi Bevenski, great to talk again,..." the man in the business suit said as he shook hands with who appeared to be his Rabbi, when his eyes caught Barbara sitting there. He saw her eyes, those lonely, sad eyes that sat there. That pretty face. He simply couldn't ignore it.

"Good bye Rabbi, and I'll see you tomorrow." he said, shaking his hand one final time.

"Yes, yes, and _zyyat gʻzwnt _to you too!" the Rabbi said as he smiled and left the building.

The man then took and took careful steps toward Barbara. He was being sure not to blow anything.

"Hello, how are you today?" he asked in a Yiddish accent. Though it wasn't too bad.

"I'm was feelin' pretty down until I came in here..." Barbara said with that sinister grin. In her head all she was saying was _he's so cute! _

"Oh, well..." the man said, as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"So what's your name?" he asked, trying to make some conversation.

"Oh, I'm Barbara Kanker." Barbara said as she stood up and stuck her hand out.

"And I'm Benjamin Levienstein, nice to meet you..." he said as he stuck his hand out to shake hers. "But people call me Bubba."

"Why on earth do they call you _that_?" Barbara asked him as she giggled.

"Well actually, it all started with my Rabbi. He says I talk just like an old grandmother, and grandmother in Yiddish is _Bubbe, _the name just stuck." he said, smiling.

"Well, _Bubba, _nice to meet you as well." Barbara said as she giggled again, almost like was a little girl again.

And this is where it starts.


	74. Chapter LXXIV

Chapter LXXIV

The two stood there and exchanged looks for a few more seconds, not really, or truly realizing the magic of this particular moments. Both of these people, so alike, yet so different. Was it by chance that they met, by chance that they were standing here today, with each other? Or was it something deeper? Was it something that was brandished on the surface, yet truly sparkling underneath? I don't really know what to tell you. All I can say is that this magic moment had not been felt by Barbara since Butch had died. And that's a fact she cannot, and should not ignore.

"So, what do you do here?" Barbara asked him, trying to make conversation in the best way possible, yet, she could still feel that twinging feeling that was telling her different.

"Oh, I'm the owner." Bubba said smiling as leaned his back againt the sturdy counter that made an outline around the front of the shop, goin around with a 20 degree angle.

"The owner!" Barbara said with an enthusiastic voice, as she knew that he was both responsible and good with money (no, that's not a Jew joke.)

"Yeah, my dad was the first owner," he said, pointing up to the portrait that was hanging from the wall. "Yep, he was a real businessman. Built this place from scratch. He was quite the guy, too. Everyone loved him. I guess that's why this place has such a nice reputation. He worked hard enough for it."

All of what Bubba was saying was true. His father had literally built the entire business from scratch. He began construction in 1969, and ran it up until his death in 1994. It was one of the most respected auto shops in town, and for good reason. The prices were reasonable, the service was excellent, and the work was also excellent.

"What happened to him?" Barbara asked, simply out of curiosity, but also because she enjoyed talking with him so much.

"Oh, he died a couple years ago." Bubba said.

"Oh my, what happened?" Barbara asked, placing her hand over her mouth, probably a little too melodramatic. But her whole goal was to grab attention from him. And that she did. She was not desperate, no. She was just a lonely soul looking for someone to make her feel whole again. And truly, isn't that all we can say about the Kanker sisters as well? Just looking for that last piece of the puzzle.

"Heart attack. Middle of the night. Pretty bad too." he responded, standing up straight again, placing his hands into his pockets. He looked around, with an almost awkward look on his face. Death was a subject that was too real for Barbara to seriously talk about.

What is death? What is it? Why do we spend all of our lives dodging the one thing that is guaranteed to us in the end? Do we fear death, or does death fear us? Does death know no limits, or do we give death no limits? See, there are so many questions about death that we don't even understand what it truly is.

All I can say is that death is just the process by which we leave. That's it. Not much else to it. Now, I could branch off into the many, _many _different spiritual and religious aspects of death and what is after death, but I don't feel that it's my place to inject my personal beliefs into this. There are too many feuds sparked over trivial things like this that cause us to look more like children than adults. And that can be an issue. See, death brings out the worst in us. When we see a loved one die, we have the most mixed up feeling one could imagine. We feel happy for them, sad for us. We feel horrible in the fact that that person is no longer with us, and at the same time we harbor guilt about ourselves for not being there more. We honestly don't know what to feel when a loved one dies. And we also recieve mixed signals. On one end, we are told to be happy and rejoice for the dead, that their enternal salvation be great. Then on the flip side of that coin_, _we are told to "let it all out" and grieve for the dead, that we may forever feel the impacts of what has happened, and that life will never be the same. And we are constantly reminded, by the slightest things, that life will never be the same. We know that life will never be the same. But that in itself seems like a paradox (yes, touching on that old chestnut again.) See, how can life ever be the same, day to day? If everyday is different, and rarely does anything ever repeat itself, then why do we have this whole foggy idea that all of a sudden something has drastically changed our lives when something bad happens? Part of it has to do with the fact that we love comfort zones. When we are in an area of comfort, we feel the best. Pretty much lending the meaning of "comfort" to "comfort zone." But it seems the further we deviate from that comfort zone, the more we try to broaden that zone to include more and more. Basically, we are creating more comfort to block out more stress. Basically, the further we go in life, the more stress we pick up along the way. And the more stress we pick up, we develop more and more comforts to block them out. To negate them. We will see this later with Barbara, and even later with the three sisters. That fear of death would be subconcious, and certainly would reer the proverbial head on more than one occasion.

But the question that should be begged, is that why do we fear death so much? The answer is simple. Death is the furthest we can step out of the comfort zone. That is the furthest we can deviate from reality, yet still be in the dead bullseye of reality. Death is the end of life on Earth. And the most prominate emotion that comes with any death is guilt. We always, always feel guilty after someone dies that we didn't spend enough time with them, or we didn't treat them nice enough, or we didn't do this, or we didn't do that. We immediately shift all the blame to ourselves. We immediately go the darkest route possible. Because, I think, that when we blame ourselves, we aren't forced to blame anyone else. Our conscience finds it much much easier to blame itself than blame someone else. Because when we look at ourselves, we only have our own opinion to go by.

And that is never a safe place to be, however you think of yourself.

Now, what became of Barbara and Bubba? Well, nothing much, to say the least. In fact, so little happened that it is not even worth putting into type, for it would simply fill up barely a paragraph worth of material. Essentially, Barbara and Bubba did feel a connection. Whether that connection was full blown love or not is open to debate, though I'm willing to be that it was something along those lines. It was certainly something, for they both could feel it, deep inside. It didn't take much searching to find it. But what did happen though was something like this:

It was three nights after the two had meet. They had been on three dates. Each one of them just as great as the last. Being a very respected businessman, Bubba had connections with all the great resturaunts in town. They had had a blast to say the least, and both of them truly wished that it would never end. Though, (much to Ed's amusement I'm sure) the gravy train had to be derailed at some point. It just isn't fesible that these two would be together forever.

"Bubba, I have to admit, you're a real great guy." Barbara said as they walked up the cold sidewalk of West Parkland Street, like two high school kids.

"Listen, Barbara, there's so"Shut mething I have to tell you." Bubba said as he cupped his chin in his hand and pulled down, stetching the skin of his face.

"What is it?" a very concerned Barbara said. She thought she had done something wrong. But she had done nothing.

"Well," he said, as they came to a full stop on the sidewalk, and they both stood there, in the freezing cold night. "I don't think there's any easy way to say this, but we can't be together anymore."

"What?" Barbara demanded, as she had the look of anger spread all over her face.

"My family says that because you're not Jewish, they won't let me see you." he said, with a very, very serious face.

"Wait a minute, you're a 30 year old man, but you won't do something because of what your family says." an even more angry Barbara said.

"It's tradition, I can't fight it. Family to us is sacred, and if I disrespect them, they'll literally disown me. The rabbis will shun me, all that. I just can't live with that. I'm sorry..." he said, looking at her with sad eyes.

"Shut up, just shut up!" Barbara said, starting to cry, "Don't ever come with me again, and by the way, I'm pregnant, if it even matters!"

She ran down the cold sidewalk, the tears hitting the frozed pavement each step of the way.

She ran in her house, and slammed the door behind her. Her emotions were in a metaphorical train wreck right now. No rest, no peace. Just pain. Lots and lots of pain.

Her parents were sitting in the living room with baby Lee, gathered around the warm fireplace, the fire glowing warmly. They saw the spectacle that had just taken place, and were quite stirred by it. Barbara just ran into her room and slammed the door, again like some hormone-fueled teenager.

"Go see." Grandpa said as he motioned his head toward the door.

Grandma simply placed Lee on the floor as she got up and headed over to the bedroom door under the stairs. She knocked on the wood several times, and all she could hear was the crying that came from behind it.

"Barbara, Barbara honey, what's wrong?" Grandma said as she knocked on the door with the back of her knuckles.

"He dumped me, and I'm pregnant!" Barbara screamed through her sobs. This immediatley caught the attention of her father, who stood up with an anger look unseen before. He had been spun into a demension of pissed off he had never been in before in his life.

"Why'd he leave you?" Grandma said, trying to find the real reason.

"Because I'm not Jewish!" Barbara screamed as she sobbed and wept. Grandpa was in fully pissed off mode, and there was no turning back.

"Why, that'll little Jew bastard! That kike bastard! They're all alike, every damned one of them. Why, pa should have gased 'em all-"

"Hans!" his wife called out, stopping him before he said anymore.

"Bliksems!" he cried out, in disgust at himself for almost saying what he was going to say, about his father's Nazi past. _Bliksems _translates from Dutch to English as "dammit!"

But truly, disgust was all he could feel about Bubba, though Bubba did have some logic, no matter how skewed.

We all have a little logic, though I can find none her.


	75. Chapter LXXV

Disclaimer:

The chapter contains some graphic, horrific details of a death, as well as scattered language. If you at all feel nervous reading such things, you have been warned.

Shackleford.

Chapter LXXV

Now, there are many things we can do to examine this situation. On one hand, one can obviously see that Barbara is not only heart broken, but emotionally detached, not to mention heart broken and practially ripped apart inside from all the pychological horror she had been through in the past two years. And really, anybody who were to go through things like she did would probably be more devistated than her. Come to think of it, I can't think of anyone who would come out as strong and bold as Barbara did after all the trauma she had been through. But surely we can overlook all of it, to focus in on some of it. On the surface, you have Butch. A death of anyone is never easy to get over. And Barbara would never truly get over it. And probably never will. But those are slippery slopes, and to fall down one would be pretty devastating. Barbara took that fall, not on her behalf, but for her current daughter, and future daughter. She knew that if she had not taken it, they would have to. And no parent, _no _parent wants to do that. No matter how desperate the situation it, no parent wants to see their kid have to suffer. But even though she tried, God knows she tried, but sometimes trying isn't enough. And that's all we can ever say.

It was still that day, that cold February night. However, the stars were not shinning bright. Not tonight.

Not tonight.

No, for tonight was something completely different. A night that seems, to us anyway, to be nothing more that horrible repoir and impulse. A night that, on the surface, seems to beg the pardon of rational logic. We see Bubba, seemingly a selfish, greedy "Jew" who could do nothing but think of himself. A man that showed no human emotion. No soul. Just his own self interests. And you probably wouldn't be wrong in assuming that. He is probably all of that, plus some. But who is Bubba, or more specifically, who is he _inside_? We have looked at Barbara, Lee, Butch, and even Marie. But who is Bubba? What is behind that business suit and cold, piercing eyes? A deep soul, that's what. A soul so deep your conscience will probably drown in it.

The night was as cold as could be. The wind whipped around the dark air, as our man Bubba walked down the road, trying to find his car in all the drifting snow. It had started to snow just a few hours ago, and was really picking up on the outside. Snow that was so white, it should have been artificial. Three inches on the ground and counting. The whipping wind blew it around all over the place, from over in the yards, to over in the street, and everywhere in between. Every which way but Ed.

Bubba walked, his eyes looking as if they carried more weight than Atlas himself. More weight than the world on which he stepped carried. The street lights looked down at him with angry and disapproving faces. They shook their imaginary heads and rolled their imaginary eyes at him. And Bubba could feel their anger as well. His head hung low with all the guilt and shame in the world. It had all been pressed down on him, as if he now knew the same burden that that pilgrim named Christian once carried. That sack called Burden was heavy, sitting squarely on his shoulders almost as if it was punishing him. As if this whole world was just some Purgatory that he was wandering through, trying to make up for that one sin that plagued him here, or that one bad deed he would never forget. The things that would never be released from his soul. That race he was late to, he would never catch up. That race being life, and the starting gun being Barbara.

"Come on Ben, you can get yourself together, you can get this done." he told himself as he burrowed his hands deep into his trech coat. The steam literally rolled from his mouth as he spoke quitely to himself, looking and searching for his car which he believed was waiting around the corner for him. Little did he know that he had passed it about a block ago. Pretty much his whole life summed up into one lot. Looking for the thing he had passed by long ago. Looking for love, when love was left back in the cold.

"No where is that damn thing?" he asked himself, as he grasped the key to his Mercedes Benz deep within his cold, balled up hand. It was already starting to turn blue from the freezing temperatures. Blue, a color we know. Where have we seen blue before?

We'll see a certain "Miss Blue" soon enough.

In his heart, Bubba knew that he had done the right thing. He could feel it deep within, that what had just happened back there, fifteen minutes ago was nothing but aces. Perhaps it was his own self image, perhaps it was his own bloated ego that caused this. In his own mind, he though he was the cream of the crop. That he did put his pants on both legs at once. He felt as if he was above everyone else, and that no one came before his own self-delusions. Not even Barbara, who one could argue he only used for his own self-image, just a thrity dollar sherrie in his mind. Nothing more than a one night stand gone wrong. He didn't see her as a love, but as a whore, who was desperate for some action after months of nothing. In his mind at least, that's what he thought. And that's what he wanted her to be, because that made his case look better and better with each gliding step. He smiled as his thoughts pinned more and more of the blame onto Barbara. His grin grew wider, and wider, and wider with each passing thought. If one listen carefully, they could hear the horse galloping down that same sidewalk.

"She wasn't any good for you anyway." he told himself, almost as if he needed to remind himself of it. "She is just a poor, pathetic Dutch frog that could sex her way out of paper bag." he said as he started to snicker wildly at his own amusement. He is obvioulsy a fairly disturbed induvidual, with more than one issue in his mind. One could say that he was crazy, but that would be giving him the benefit of the doubt. He was in full control of his thoughts. That makes the real question, was he really himself, or the monster he had made himself. He wasn't like this, this wasn't him. He was Ben, the good guy, the quiet guy. He wasn't the egotist he had made himself out to be. Deep down, he was just emotionally troubled. He was scared of himself. Of what he was capable of. He didn't know where his thoughts stopped, and when his fear began. It was if fear was almost a cancer, that was eating all the goodness and light in his heart, turning it into stone cold darkness, a darkness that covered him with a giant veil. The viel of guilt.

He walked on, with no hope in his heart, but pride. Too much pride is never, never a good thing. Especially when we're talking about something along the lines of an ego the size of a small planet. He could see no problem with himself, and even found what he did to be morally pitch perfect.

He continued walking down the street that was continuing to bluster wildly. For some reason, it seemed to be getting darker. But was it getting darker? Or was his heart growing darker? I'll let you be the judge.

The street, the street where so many memories paved over with the snow that blew around every where. The lights that hung over the dank street were the only things that shinned. And even they gave this shadow of horror. The horror that had gripped so many people, and held so many of those same people captive on this street. Horror had churned the emotions of this city long enough, and sometimes, in fact, most of the time, it just gets to be too much for one person to handle. The horror that can grip us all sometimes, and make us think and do the wildest things imaginable. We try to fight horror. We try to ignore it, shove it to the side like anything esle that we would ignore. But horror has a face. And if you don't make a friend of horror, it is an enemy to be feared. Horror can get inside your head and make you think thoughts you would have never thought before, and do things you would have never done before. Horror is not just an emotion, horror is what our emotions have when they fear their own safety.

Horror.

Bubba looked all around himself, eyeing all the reflections the snow gave from the street lights. The glittering, sparkling snow gave him a curious feeling of guilt, a feeling that came over even the highest points of his pride. The darkness was overwhelming, and was starting to blanket over everything presented here tonight. This whole scene, where dreams are made and broken, and visions are had in detail. This whole street, this whole life. This whole life of not only Barbara Kanker, but of her family as well. Her future daughters, her future life. How would it

Then all of a sudden, over his right shoulder, Bubba could almost hear something happening. Something that sounded as if it was approaching him. Step by step, it grew louder and louder. In fact, it grew so loud to the point where it sounded like an echo casting over and over again that same sound. The sound of guilt.

Bubba turned around shaprly, making a tight swish sound with the heel of his feet, skirting the snow around the concrete. The sound of the wind cracking around his body was enough to make the slightest sound disappear.

He saw nothing. Just the snow that was coming down from the sky, and the light that was reflected off of it. Nothing else. No sound, no sight. Only feeling. The feeling of guilt.

"It's nothin' Ben, it's nothin'." he tried to convince himself as he pounded his head into his gloved palm, trying to literally knock some sense into himself. It was almost as if he had spent his entire life denying anything that gave him the slightest feeling of happiness, or gladness. He has spent his entire life looking for that one thing, yet never finding it. All he wanted was someone to love. Someone that would want him, and love him, no matter what. Someone that would look past his flaws. Look past his thoughts, and see him for who he really, and truly was. Those surpressed memories came back. The memories of guilt.

Then he turned around, much more calmly then when he had turned around before. In front of him, again, and saw nothing but the snow coming down. The wet, cold snow that poured down from the sky above him. The endless, black sky. He looked around, gazing with his eyes all that was around him, which basically amounted to nothing. Nothing but himself. Alone with his thoughts. The thoughts of guilt.

"See, nothin'." he said as he continued to walk on.

Then, all of a sudden, out of the corner of his eye, he could see something moving. Something that was down the street, and away from him. He saw a blink, as if it was that of a light. A flashing light, moving very slowly at first. At first, Bubba just figured it for your typical street light, probably growing dim from old age.

But then the light moved more quickly, and more, and more, and then _**whoosh.**_

Bubba fell back to the ground, skidding his bottom against the sidewalk and against the snow that covered it. Surely the pain was overwhelming, but the pain was the least thing on his mind. His lip trembled and quaked, and his eyes twitched rapidly as his face ticked from one side to the other. On his face was the look of shear terror and horror.

Horror.

In front of Bubba was something of another level. It was the bulb housing of a street light, with the neck of the light stretched out into a thin, wavery neck that squiggled and squirmed around at a high pitched frequency, like that of cilia on a protazoa. The cover over the bulb was morphed into a monstorous face, a face not of this world. Their were two oval shaped eyes, deep and black, with two red pupils, small and dead in the center. The nose was large and crooked, and protruded far outside the area of the vicera. And finally, there was a very bizzare smile. It was a grin that looked like someone had drawn it on. It was black and dark, with just a slight white outline making it out. It was crooked and narrow, only giving way to the evil look this,...thing gave him. Those two pupils, those two red pupils, looked straight into his eyes, piercing even his blackest soul with the knoweledge. The knowledge of guilt.

"Why'd you do it, Ben...?" the Thing asked him, the mouth parts not moving at all, but a loud, shrill voice spoke, seemingly coming from nowhere. Almost as if a voice was being cast from somewhere. Little did Bubba know that he was his conscience was the one speaking.

Bubba simply screamed as loud as he could and got up as quickly as possible. He brushed off his pants and tried to run off from the reflection. The reflection of guilt.

But just as he started running off, the Thing simply laughed at him and stretched itself after him. It eventually caught up with him wrapped around his neck, cutting off his breathing and slicing his juglar vein in half, sending blood shooting everwhere, covering the snow in a thick curtain. A curtain of guilt.

"Ahhh!" Bubba said as he woke up, lying down in the snow, now covered up to his side in it. He had passed out from hypothermia on the walk, and had fallen down next to a tree in someone's yard. It was still pitch black, and the snow was still pouring down.

"I'm alive..." he started, reaching out his gloved hand and feeling all around his neck, especially around his vein. "I'm alive!"

He quickly got up and rushed back in a hurry. He found his car, parked in the same spot where he had left it. He brushed the snow off of the windshield, knocking it to the ground with the side of his arm. Rushing to the door, Bubba popped it open and got inside, starting the engine and driving off, and away from here.

After only what was about fifteen minutes of driving, he got to the large house where he and his family lived. Even as a successful business man, he still lived with his parents, and his aging grandmother. The only light that came was from a lamp in the picture window that hung in front of the living room. In the room he could see his elderly Bubbe, and smiled a little as he saw her precious old face. A face that had seen more terror than he would ever hope to know.

Bubba walked in the door and into the doorway leading to the living room, where the fireplace roared infront of his little grandmother. He walked up to her and squatted down to see her.

"Hey Bubbe, how are you today?" he asked her in a soft and gentle voice.

"Did you get rid of the frog?" she asked, looking up from her knitting and speaking in a very commanding voice.

"Don't call her that, Bubbe, she's a really nice woman." Bubba tried to say, dealing with his grandmother's prejudice.

"She's a dirty, wooden shoe Dutchie, and she's not to be trusted. They're all the same. Every damn one of them. And she'll only treat you the same!" she yelled, pointing her finger in his face.

"But Bubbe, I feel for her. I think I love her-" he started before she stopped him. She got up and shoved her boney finger into his face.

"Don't you ever love anyone but me, you got that, you can only love me!" she said.

Then, her face started to morph around, changing very slowly in a warp. It twisted around into that same face Bubba had seen on the street light. The red eyes, the nose, the non-moving grin. It wall all there.

"Only me..." the shrill voice cast out, without the mouth moving at all.

"Uh, uh, uh..." Bubba said in terror, backing up toward the fire.

The face on his grandmother then morphed even further, into an exact reflection of his face. It was like looking into a mirror, only more terrifying.

"Only me..." it said, in a voice just like that of Bubba.

"Ahhhh!" Bubba screamed as he jumped over the chair and ran toward the door. He ran out, and looked back only once. He saw his actual grandmother standing in the picture window. She slowly banged her hand on the window, looking at him with almost desperate and heart-broken eyes.

"Why don't you love me anymore, Benny? Why don't you love your Bubbe?"

"I've got to get out of here..." Bubba said as he ran off down the street, heading toward nowhere.

As he ran down the street, the snow continued to pour, and pour, and pour. But as he got even further, right before his eyes, all the lights in his view turned into the Things he had seen earlier. They all turned and looked right at him, piercing his mind with their red eyes.

"Why'd you do it to them Ben, why them?" they all chanted in that shrill voice.

"Leave me alone!" he screamed, looking around that the Things moving around infront of him.

"Yeah, why us?" one of them said as it came down and looked straight into his face. The Thing changed forms several times, warping back and forth between the faces of Barbara, his Bubbe, and himself. It continued to warp as the others chanted in their high shrills around him.

"Leave me the fuck alone!" he screamed as she shriecked and ran as fast as he could down the road, dodging the traffic that was coming at him. The tears rolled down his face as the voices kept chanting and chanting.

_Why Ben, why? _

_She's pregnant, why'd you do it? _

_Maybe the baby will be just like you: crazy! _

He just covered his ears with both of his hands, trying to block out the voice. The voice of guilt.

He bellowed and screamed as he ran down and near the sound of watering rushing. Bubba took out a piece of paper and scribbled something down, as he folded it up. He ran at full speed, screaming and sobbing, as he leaped off the Ambassador Bridge and into Lake St. Clair.

He fell and hit a rock on the edge of the shore, splitting his head open, and the blood and brain matter flowed everywhere in the sub-zero water, freezing it quickly as steam rose from the drastic temperature change. The water pretty much froze his body on impact, and forever froze the look on his face. That face of horror and shock. The face of guilt.

Back at his house, smoke rose high from the chimney, and from the roof as well. His grandmother had taken and threw a hot, flaming log onto the carpet, setting the entire house a-blaze. The fire scoarched as it engulfed the entire house in one huge fire. His Bubbe and parents all burned completely alive inside, and his grandmother's dying breath was

"He didn't love me..."

Fire is the Devil's only friend...

The next morning, the paper was hot off the presses and on the steps of the Kanker household was the newspaper. Grandpa Kanker cracked open the door as he grabbed the paper and went back in to the warm.

The headline read **ONE MAN JUMPS TO HIS DEATH **.

"Would you look at this, poor guy killed himself off that old bridge." Grandpa said as Barbara quickly grabbed the paper out of his hand and read through it. Once she saw the name, she immediately ran toward the door and out of it, even though she was still in her pajamas.

She drove until she found the old bridge downtown, and got out, running at full speed on the cold pavement. She looked around, and saw down where the police tape and whatnot was placed.

"Oh, my God, it can't be..." she said as she looked over at the scene, still in disbelief.

Then she saw something. It was a folded piece of paper, sitting on the very edge of the bridge. She went over and picked it up. The snow had stained it some, but she unfolded it, and found it was still legible.

**_I'm just one man, _**

_**I'm just one love...** _

Barbara wept.


	76. Chapter LXXVI

Chapter LXXVI

After the events that had taken place after the past six months, it can pretyy much be solidyfied that the Kankers would never be the same. I know, it seems cliche at this point. But it is simply something that can't be ignored. Either way, that is how much we do know. And it can be assumed, as well as practically proven, at this point at least. Maybe we can see now that, through our reality-coloured glasses, the Kanker family is just one difficulty after another. One tear after another. It all added up to one big mess that none of them would ever forget, especially the girls. As people would forget them, time never would.

But why them? Why the Kankers? Why did all this trauma have to happen to them? What is it about the Kankers? Why did they always have to get the shit end of the stick, day in and day out? It seems as though the world was against them, in almost every aspect. People hate them, society banishes them. Reality throws them out on the proverbial streets called life, and they have nothing to go by with it. No resourse. No refuge. Why were the Kankers seemingly doomed to this horrid cycle we call life?

That question has the potential to open up more cans of worms than any of them had ever seen. Afe for good measure. There are just too many religious, political, social, and psychological implications to get into. And for the respect of the readers, I will not bring them up. That much respect is guaruanteed on any level.

But we can look at the raw, nitty-gritty things that have caused it, and been reflected by it. What can we understand from this?

Well, we already know what we've been given so far, at least in good detail. But there is still a great more detail to cover before we can assure ourselves of what has become of the Kanker family, and what has shaped their lives.

The song remains the same...

Nine months later, we are still in this same city. This city of Detroit, Michigan. A lowly city, built of nothing but the tears of many, and the duality of man.

Certainly the duality of man comes into to play here. You can't have all this horrible, terrible life, and not have the exact opposite happen. There has to be that theoretcial balance between the terrible and the great. On one hand, you have all this miserable horror that has occured to the Kanker family. The death of Butch, leaving Lee without a father. The suicide and over all mental decay of Bubba, the father to the daughter Barbara was now pregnant with. Out of wedlock as well. It sent shame up and down the spines of the Kanker household. They felt as if that now that Barbara was on a steady path of decline until they reached a world of shit.

Little did they know, they were,...in a world,...of shit.

It was now January of 1997. Almost one year had passed since that fateful month when so much had happened. That cold, February night where so many disturbing things had happened in the minds of a man.

After all, he was just one man.

Had Bubba loved Barbara? Tought to say, though I'd bet the ranch on it. There was something, no doubts there. There was a connection of some type, whatever the case may be. Barbara had been so long without that feeling in her heart, that place where love had once filled so greatly. Now it just seemed like some distant and vague memory, some nostalgic glimpse of what had been, and what would possibly never be again. Now, one should never discount anything, because where there's smoke, I can assume there is fire. And where there are two people, completely desperate for one touch of the other's heart, I can assume there is love.

January 12, 1997. Inner city Detroit. A great many things had changed in a year's time. For one, a daughter named Marie had been born. A beautiful, precious little baby named Marie was born. Her dark, oval eyes glimmered, and her neat little hair curled around her head in little whisppy threads of black. Those cute little freckles that dotted her face under her eyes, and the lights played softly off them, in a reflection of more than just light. But also of love. Unbinding, uncaring love. That's what the world needs. Yeah, that's it.

The night was growing cold. Very cold. Snow was piled all over as always, and gave a certain feel of sadness to the entire mix. Something that made it feel as if, as if everything was doom and gloom. As if everything was hanging in shame all around her, as she moved on and on, further down the dirty little street. The water was solid in frozen puddles all over the shoulders of the streets. The air was dry and bitter, taking the breath out of anyone who dared brisk the enviornment to get out. Barbara didn't aske to be out in this weather. She would rather be in some nice house somewhere, snuggled up next to the fireplace with someone that she loved, in a happy life. But that just wasn't the hand she had been dealt. She was forced to roam the streets, the cold, lonely streets at ten o'clock at night. Wandering aimlessly in search of something, but she didn't know what. Of course down in her heart of hearts she knew, but that was that. In her brain, she didn't quite know what the heck was going on.

On the opposite end of that street, down where the wind blew in and out, in and out, stood a single store, on the very corner. It was one of those over night convience stores, you know the kind. Most of them are places that sell things like cigarettes, beer, snack food. The works. The type of store where you only shop there if you are either dirt poor, or nothing else is open. I think we know Barbara's reasoning for going there.

Outside of the glowing glass door stood a man. This man was rather goofy-looking if one was to view him from a distance. He sort of stepped around with a strange step, almost as if he was about to trip over his own feet all the time. He was just a nice guy. A guy caught in the cycle, day in/day out. He was in a rut, looking for a way out. He just wanted someone to accept him for who he was. He had been through so much in his life, seen so much, that his mind would be forever warped by the horrors he had seen.

Now, I wouldn't go as far as to call it post traumatic stress disorder. But it's on the table. The event that he had seen about a month and a half ago was forever digitalized into his mind. It had changed him, it had made him think twice before things now. He didn't just think about things. He pondered on things now. He fully thought them through. And he never, ever took anything for granted now. Everything was just as precious as anything should habe been. Value, that is what he assigned to everything now. Even his own soul. And though he had to do some real searching to do so, he found it within himself. Yes, he still had value. Especially to a certain someone.

"Shew, been a long night..." Rod said as he rubbed his hands together and beat them against his pants legs. The temperature had to be below zero degrees Farenheight (I guess that would be around -10 Celsius, foreign readers correct me if I'm wrong.) The air was bitterly dry, and it possessed no real substance to it at all.

As we all know (or should know), Rod is the securtiy guard here, and works the graveyard shift. But Rod did have good reason for working the late shift. Over the years, he had developed a bad case of insomnia, something that he thought he would probably never get over. He simply could not sleep at night. No matter how long he would lay in the bed, no matter how many sheep he would count, it still wasn't enough. Sleep did not come to him anymore. He hadn't slept in eleven months. Because everytime he did, that same nightmare would come back to haunt him. Everytime he went to sleep, he just felt like he was dying a little each time. Minute by minute, he felt like he was dying a little. Who would be that angel to swoop down and give him hope again? Who I ask? I think we know.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rod saw a man walk up to the store. The little lamp that hung outside was enough to cast a small shadow onto him, and illuminate his face slightly. He looked very underage, and was trying to cover himself as best as possible.

"Cold weather out huh?" Rod asked him as the man stepped up to go into the front door of the store.

"Sure is,..." the guy responded as he went inside, with his head ducked into a thick coat. Rod didn't know why, but he could alsmost recognize him.

"Nah, that couldn't be..." he said, as he shook his head in doubt. But could it have been? Been who?

The same guy walked out about five minutes later, a crunched up brown paper bag in his hand. In it was a bottle of booze, though the kind was still unspecified. He waved at Rod with his free hand.

"Good night." he said, placing his hand back down.

"Bye now." Rod said, as he waved back. The guy was obviously too young to be drinking, but drank anyway. He guzzled the alcohol down in tight long swigs. He did not hesitate at all with the beverage. He was drowning his life away, and washing his sorrows away.

Just goes to show how society can let us all down, and ruin our trust in the duality of man.

You can't lose a coin toss when you only have one side.

Rod went back to whistling and twirling his fingers around, trying to stay warm. He took several sips of his hot coffee cup and placed it back down, wiping off his mouth before the substance froze.

Then he noticed something. He saw what looked to be a woman walking up the street. She was all by herself, and looked scared and terrified. She looked around her constantly, as if someone was out to get her. That paranoia was enough to spark Rod's interest, as he had never seen someone like this walk up to the store before. He had never seen someone this,...scared before, coming into the store. Sure, he had seen plenty of dirt poor thieves and gangs come in there. He had seen hobos and bums. But he had never seen a normal, average person come in there. And someone that was doing so against her own will, but out of necessity. This woman was different. It was almost like her soul was a signal beacon, calling out to that someone who would step up and help her out a little.

She approached closer and closer, and Rod could feel a twinging inside his stomach. Guys, you all know the feeling. You see someone you know has affected you, and you just can't ignore that feeling beyond a doubt. It gets inside you, and keeps you from thinking of much anything else. That feeling of his heart warming up the cold air around him. That magic moment. So different, and so new...

"Good evening ma'am, cold night out tonight, huh?" he asked her, mustering up the courage to do so, after much mental debate with himself.

"Good evening." Barbara said with a half-smile, not really feeling the reason to give a full smile. It just wasn't in her to do it. She just couldn't find it. No where. The happiness was not in her. The joy she did not possess. For the only thing that filled her heart, was a lover's loud distress.

She walked into the door and back to the milk area. She looked around for a little while, before she finally grabbed a gallon and made her way to the counter. She didn't have any cash on her, so she had to pick out quarters and dimes from her hand. She kept all the change she found on the side of the road and used them for things like milk and ceral for her kids. That was all she could afford to get them, even with them being babies. Barbara herself had not eaten in four days, and her stomach was shrinking by the second. Food had become one of those increasing after thoughts, like everything else I suppose. She could care less about herself, and only about her little kids, who she had to leave at home by themselves. It was not her prefered method of parenting, but she got by with it all the same.

She walked back out with that look of melancholy, and vast depression that could have swept away the seas of time. And it did in some ways, in a lot of ways.

"Hey, where are ya goin'?" he asked her as she walked quickly down the parking lot, trying to get away.

"Nowhere..." she said quickly, trying to avoid an embarrassing situation.

"Well, mind if I know where that's at?" he asked her, with a slight grin coming over his face.

She stopped dead in her tracks, not moving a muscle. She couldn't believe someone had cared about her situation enough to simply try to understand where she was coming from.

"I just, I don't know!" she said as she started to tear up, and several tears ran down her face smeared on the edge of her chin.

"Hey now," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders, "everything's gonna be okay. I'm here, aren't I?"

That physical touch, that touch from him, was enough to stitch up her heart in a whole new way. It was enough to convince her to turn around, and look at the man who had done it.

She turned around and looked up, and saw Rod's smiling face. Her tears still ran down her face, however her crying had stopped.

"Don't do that, you'll make me start..." he said as he wiped the side of his hand and grabbed the tears off her eyes.

And they exchanged stares, and the feelings ran wild. They both smilied as they looked into each other. For some time now, everyone had looked down on Barbara. Cast her out as a poor single mother. No one had offered out a helping hand. No one had offered to be that Good Samaritan, to rescue her beaten and bruised body from the side of the road called Life. But now, she had found that some one. That someone who cared, and wanted to help her.

He who is without love, cast the first stone...


	77. Chapter LXXVII

Note: This is the final, complete Chapter 77.

Hello everyone,

The next three chapters are going to be very different than the normal.

First thing, the next three chapters are going to be flashbacks to 1940s Holland and Germany, in order to examine the final back story for the Kankers. As such, the following things will be different in order to fully illustrate the back story.

The next three chapters will be at least 10,000 words a piece. I believe that it will take the full 30,000 words to illustrate the five years of World War II.

Second, the big thing is that, bearing with my Dutch readers, all the dialogue will be in Dutch and German, to add perfect authenticity. Now, not to confuse the English readers, I will "subtitle" the story in the method as shown below:

"_ Dit is hoe het zal zijn."_  
(This is how it will be.)

I hope that it will be suitable for my readers, and I hope it will not confuse anyone.

Also, there will be very mature situations, including murder, language, etc, as well as graphic war violence pertaining to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. If you at all feel nervous reading such scenes, you have been warned.

And to my Dutch and German readers, if you see any non-historical information pertaining to accuracy and setting for both the Netherlands or Germany, do not hesitate to let me know.

Thanks,  
Shackleford.

Warning: This chapter contains very graphic and mature content reserved for those over the age of 16. If you ar all feel nervous reading scenes pertaining to war violence, or death, you have been warned.

Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter LXXVII

_"Ze komen eraan, ik zeg het je, ze komen."_  
(They're coming, I'm telling you, they're coming!) the store owner said as he wrapped up some meat for his regular customer, who he generally considered his best friend.

That man was Klaus Kanker, who we know as the Dutch great-grandfather of the Kanker sisters.

_"Ik geloof het pas als ik het zie."_  
(I'll believe it when I see it.) Klaus said as he grabbed his meat off of the glass counter top. His comment slid off as almost cliche. Nazi Germany had been threatening the Netherlands for years now, so the verge of invasion was always a concern, for the paranoid citizens of course. But Hitler considered the Dutch to be part of the "Master Race", so they didn't fear annilation as much as, say, the French, or the British, or the Americans even. It wasn't something that came across as threatening. However, the Dutch did fear the Nazis in general, as they were very intimidating.

When Hitler had taken over Germany in 1933, the people of Germany had actually felt a kind of hope. A kind of rejuvination of some type. After World War I, the entire country was in a bad depression. Most of the towns were completely destroyed, much of the farm land and country side had been turned into trenches, and all the jobs were gone. In short, the people had no hope, no reason to go on, no real feeling that they should continue with what they were doing, because it made them feel terrible to even consider the possiblities of their future. But then, then a man named Adolf Hitler came along.

Hitler was pretty much the last one standing. He proposed the _nationalsozialistischen Deutsch Arbeiterpartei _or the National Socialist German Worker's Part, Nazi for short. He had the autoban built, as well as beefing up the enitire Geramn military with his creation of the Wermacht.

However, Hitler truly had a secret plot behind all. It all started with the building of "work camps" in places such as Dachau, Austchwitz, and other areas like that. Hitler proposed the "super race", better known as the "Master race" of the Vaderland (Fatherland). He considered blond haired, blue eyed males to be that race, and that they should be protected in order to form a super race to take over the world. All these "Aryans" were being round up and put into either high military positions, or into "Hitler Youth," a regiment of young Nazi soldiers, specifically trained to one day fight for the Wehrmacht.

Now, on the flip side of that coin, Hitler believed that certain people were unfit to inhabit the "Vaderland," and should be exterminated in order to make room for the Super Race. These people included the Jews, Russians, Poles, gypsies, hanicapped, and the Jehovah's Witnesses. He believed that all of these people need to be killed, as he thought they had no right to get in the way of his take over. The common belief in Germany as well was that Jewish bankers caused World War I and the Depression, so all the blame was shifted to them. And being Jewish was not an easy thing in this time in Europe. They were forced into practical isolation by the Nazis, and strict laws caused them to have to hide in their homes, out of fear of being killed by the Waffen-SS troops that patrolled around the cities of Germany.

Here, where the story is currently at, in the Netherlands, Germany had not yet taken over. Hitler was much more preoccupied with France, Russia, Britain, and America. He considered the Netherlands to be so small, so insignificant, it was almost not enough to cross his mind. Also, the Germans and Dutch have always had a love/hate relationship,similar to the United States and Britain.

But here in this little delicatesean, in the middle of the bustling city of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, one man, one single man, will change the lives of hundreds of people in the future. But he would never know it until years later.

_"Ik weet het niet. het is zo lastig. een minuut dat ze hier zijn, een minuut dat ze er zijn. ik zoek een invasie binnenkort. het is slechts een kwestie van tijd."_  
(I don't know. it's so tricky. one minute they're here, one minute they're there. i look for an invasion soon. it's only a matter of time.) the meat keeper said as he leaned over on his counter. The white paper hat on his head was begininning to fall off, and his apron was ruffled slightly from the neck tie under it. The face of this man was of much worry. His slicked-back parted hair was a dark blond, and his eyes were very deep blue.

"_Ik denk dat je_ _een_ _beetje gek__, de heer Van Wilmer. U bent dwaas."_  
(I think you're a bit crazy, Mr. Van Wilmer. You're being foolish.) Klaus said as he also leaned down on the counter, being playful and coy with his friend, Rodrieck Van Wilmer, the main cook at the local deli on this particular street.

_"Gewoon kijken en zien, Klaus, zal de nazi's hier voor morgen komt voor ons."  
_(Just watch and see, Klaus, the Nazis will be here before tomorrow comes before us.) Rodrieck Van Wilmer responded, as he tilted his head at his dear friend and walked back to the cash register to tend to some other customers.

_"Ik zal er zeker om wakker te worden en je bellen als ze dat doen."_  
(I'll be sure to wake up and call you if they do.) Klaus called back, placing his cupped hands around his mouth. The two would always tease each other like this. They had done so since they were children, and now was no exception.

_"Ik zal niet naar huis!"_  
(I won't be home!) Rodrieck called back as well, through a well defined smile. It was that one thing about him that stuck out. It possibly his slightly prominent overbite, but that wasn't just it. It was his entire personallity. Like he was so goofy and paranoid it was funny.

Were have we seen this before? Or technically speaking, where will we see this? I believe you know who I am talking about.

_"Wat, hete date vanavond of zo?"_  
(What, hot date tonight or something?) Klaus asked him, as he started to giggle. They both had always had their little crushes, growing up together. Now Klaus was married to his, but Rodrieck was still in search. So in search to the point where Klaus would constantly tease him for it. It was one of those friendly gestures that only good, best friends can do to each other.

_"Ha, ik wil!"_  
(Ha, I wish!) Rodrieck gaffawed as he put some customer money into his cash register and closed it again, making all the typical dings and chimes a cash register usually makes.  
_"Hoe dan ook, ik moet vanavond laat werken. Je weet wel, schoon."_  
(Anyway, I have to work late tonight. You know, clean.)

_"Schoon te maken? U heeft niet schoongemaakt je eigen zelf in vijf jaar!"_  
(Clean? You haven't cleaned your own self in five years!) Klaus replied with a big laugh as he clapped his hands. The two eighteen year olds laughed together after a while, sharing a nice friendly banter. If one didn't know better, one could swear they were twins. Just two, great guys. Trying to make it in life, one step at a time. And in the midst of a major war, they could still find ways to be humorous and funny.

_"Ja, ja, zoals ik heb niet gehoord dat een voor ..."_  
(Yeah, yeah, like I haven't heard that one before...) Rodrieck responded, shaking his head at Klaus's comment. But one could not ignore the fact that Rodrieck did take care of himself, as best he could. He was overall a good guy, and was just trying to find his place in this world. Just like all of us today. Just looking for that one place, that one niche where we can take off.

_"Hey, wat doe je morgen middag?"_  
(Hey, what are you doing tomorrow afternoon?) Klaus asked.

_"Niet veel,_ waarom?"  
(Not much, why?) he responded, ringing up another customer at the counter.

_"U wilt over te gaan naar de nieuwe afbeelding? Ik hoor "Gone with the Wind" speelt."_  
(You wanna go over to the new picture? I hear Gone with the Wind is playing.) Klaus asked, hoping to get his friend to go somewhere.

"_Tuurlijk, prima. Maar u betaalt deze keer."_  
(Sure, fine. But you pay this time.) Rodrieck said, as he pinched and moved his fingers to immitate money.

_"Goedkope kont, kunt u niet betalen voor een ding?"  
_(Cheap ass, you can't pay for one thing?) Klaus asked. Rodrieck was always very tight with his money, and rarely would he let a mark out of his sight.

_"Goed, goed, ik zal betalen voor de tickets. Maar je moet het eten te kopen."_  
(Fine, fine, I'll pay for the tickets. But you have to buy the food.) Rodrieck said, being forced to make a compromise. Somehow, he was always made to compromise with Klaus. It was almost as if Klaus was a bully, taking the quarter jar away from those who earned it in the first place.

_"Geweldig, __tot dan_."  
(Great, see you then.) Klaus said, as he stood up straight and walked over to the door.

_"Wacht, wat tijd?"_  
(Wait, what time?) Rodrieck cried out from behind the cash registar, sticking his head up to find his friend in the crowd.

_"Uh, aanvang op drie." _  
(Uh, show time's at three.) Klaus said as he walked toward the big glass doors that stood at the front of the building, welcoming in new visitors.  
_"__Tot ziens."_  
(By now.)

_"Tot ziens."_  
(See ya.) Rodrieck said as he waved, going back to his job. Rodrieck was such a hard worker, no matter how goofy, and always maintained a hard profile, day in and day out. He knew when to be serious, knew when to be goofy. He knew how to act in most occasions. He had mastered the art. After so long, it just came naturally to him.

Walking out to the street, hundreds of people walked up and down the busy sidewalks of Rotterdam. Klaus Kanker walked out and was greeted by the American song _I'm Sittin' on Top of The World _by Al Jolson. The song really set the mood for the entire scene, as everything was wonderful in the little street. Merchants up and down were selling their items and food. Dusty old VolksWagens and American Fords made their way up and down the cobblestone street, hopping us and down, up and down to the beat of their own drum. Men and women alike strolled their way around, in suits and dresses. The smell of sausage and beer filled the light and careless air, as the late spring sun was almost ready to start setting below the horizion. Not much else to say, really. There is not much to say. It was just a wonderful little scene, this area. The connected stores, all alike with their big glass windows and aluminum awninings that hung over the sidewalk, a place where both the children and adults alike had fun. Red, white, and blue striped Dutch flags blew rapidly in the wind as shop owners swept their sidewalks, and greeted their customers with a certain happiness not seen anymore today. And it's a shame.

_Vandaag is een __grote dag!"_ _  
_(Today is one great day!)Klaus said as he skipped down the side walk, happy as he could be. The sun really shinned out from his heart, and the big grin on his face only proved even further his joyous feelings. He didn't even know why he was happy. He just was. He didn't care about Hitler, or Nazi Germany, or the World War that was going on all around the Netherlands. None of that bothered him. All he cared about was how he was going to live his life, and how he was going to be successful with it. Eighteen years old, and nothing but aces. He had a beautiful wife, a newborn son, and a great job working at a chicken factory. Only one thing could make this picture any better.

_"Hey Klaus, __wat is er aan?"_  
(Hey Klaus, what's going on?) a voice called out from beyond the confines of a small brick building, just outside of Klaus' perifial vision. It was a voice so unique, yet so foreign.

_"Wie is dat? Wie genoemd?"_  
(Who's that? Who called?) Klaus called out, as he turned around several times, trying to find who was trying to communicate with him. He just couldn't find out, but he really knew. It could only be one person. And it was the person Klaus wanted to see the most right now.

_"Simon, ben jij dat?"_  
(Simon, is that you?) Klaus said, as he looked to his right to see a man leaning out a big window that was postioned in front of the store. He was a tall, skinny man with rust-colored hair, and a scruched up 1920s train driver cap, and the gray wool was well wrinkled. He also wore a white dress shirt with the seeves rolled up, as well as green slacks that adjusted to his tall heigh perfectly. He leaned out of the window, wih his elbow on the pane, and his torso curved out and looking out.

_"Ik hoop van wel!" _  
(I certainly hope so!) he said as he made a goofy facial expression, moving his hat up and down by the visor, effectively greeting his old friend.  
_"Hoe gaat het mijn vriend? Hoe ben je geweest?"_  
(How are you my friend? How have you been?)

_"Oh, ik heb zo goed als ik kan doen, denk ik. Er gaat niets boven het zien van een oude vriend die bij uw stemming te brengen."  
_(Oh, I've been doing as well as I can, I suppose. Nothing like seeing an old friend to bring your mood up.) Klaus said, smiling, as he leaned his tired shoulder on the window pane next to his friends. The two exchanged a handshake before they got down to business.

_"J__e een biertje?"_  
(You want a beer?) Simon said, looking his friend dead in the eye. After all, the lettering on the front of the building did read "Simon's Bier."

_"Wil je er een? Je weet dat ik zou een wilt!"_  
(Want one? You know I'd want one!) Klaus said as he chuckled. Beer was always something Klaus could go for, especially this time of the day.

_"Geweldig, een biertje __komt eraan!"_  
(Great, one beer coming right up!) Simon said as he reached his left hand down and pulled out two brown bottles of high-priced beer, handing one to Klaus.

_"D__ank."_  
(Thanks.) Klaus said as he grabbed the bottle with his hand. The bottle was quite cold, and the change in temerature was almost enough to make him drop it. But it was beer, and Klaus would never, ever do something as stupid as drop a bottle of beer to the ground.

_"G__raag gedaan."_  
(You're welcome.) Simon said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle opener. He pushed the metal device back and forth, pusing the metal cap off the bottle, releasing the bubbly fizzy sound that the tall beer bottle made as the trapped air was released from with in it. He passed the opener to Klaus, who repeated the steps previously mentioned.

The two sat there, sipping their beers, not making eye contact or talking, but simply looking around the town, spying all the things that were going on about the city. All the different people going by. The music blarring over the crowd. Now it was _In The Mood _by Glenn Miller. The town was very fast paced, and the people moved even faster. It seemed like it could practically be another Amsterdam, in a way. Rotterdam is a port city, so you have to figure all the shipping and trading that goes on. But beyond all that, it was just a normal Dutch city with normal Dutch people, like our good friend Klaus Kanker.

_"Dus Simon, heb je gehoord?"_  
(So Simon, have you heard?) Klaus asked, taking a long swig of his beer.

_"Gehoord wat?"_  
(Heard what?) Simon asked, also taking a large swig. His was longer though, and boy did he savor every flavor.

_"Je weet wel, over Duitsland en de nazi's."_  
(You know, about Germany, and the Nazis.)

_"Ik weet niet, hoe zit het met hen?"_  
(I don't know, what about 'em?) Simon said, taking a sip as he moved his eyes up and down the street, as if he was suddenly more paranoid now than before.

_"Ik heb gehoord dat ze moeten om binnen te dringen of iets dergelijks."_  
(I heard they're supposed to invade or something.) Klaus responded, looking down the street as he saw a woman with a very nice figure. He and Simon both followed her movements, their jaws open. They both looked back at each other with a smile, and sort of chuckled, at the very idea of it.

_"Nu waar heb je het gehoord gek stront als dat?"_  
(Now where did you hear crazy shit like that?) Simon asked, looking at Klaus with a very funny face.

_"Rodrieck Van Wilmer me verteld."_  
(Rodrieck Van Wilmer told me.) Klaus said, sipping the last bit of the beer he had left.

_"Rodrieck Van Wilmer? Je kunt niet luisteren naar wat hij zegt. De man is gek!"_  
(Rodrieck Van Wilmer? You can't listen to anything he says. The man's insane!) Simon said, throwing his empty bottle over in the basket next to the window. And it's true. Rodrieck Van Wilmer did have a reputation for being "crazy" in the town. He had claimed to see "aliens" as well, and even claimed to be abducted. Have the things he said, he made up. So no one in the city knew when he was being serious or not.

_"Ja, nou, wat als hij gelijk heeft? Wat als hij toch gelijk geweest?"_  
(Yeah, well, what if he's right? What if he's been right all along?) Klaus asked.

_"Rodrieck Van Wilmer toch? Ik zou graag die dag te zien."_  
(Rodrieck Van Wilmer, right? I'd like to see that day.) Simon said, being sarcastic. The alcohol was already starting to settle in, and cause him to become quite drunk, even after only one beer.

_"Je kijkt en ziet. Het zal gebeuren voordat je het weet."_  
(You watch and see. It'll happen before you know it." Klaus said, throwing his beer bottle away as he stood up straight, stretching out his arms.

_"Ja, ja, ik hoor je."_  
(Yeah, yeah, I hear ya.)

_"Nou, ik zie je later Simon. Ik moet het hoofd naar huis."  
_(Well, I'll see you later Simon. I have to head on home.) said Klaus as he moved infront of the window, to fully address his good friend.

_"Goed dan, tot ziens vriend. Ik zie je later."_  
(Alright then, goodbye my friend. I'll see you tomorrow.) Simon said, waving with his left hand, though it was a wonder that he could still lift it up.

_"Tot zeins."_  
(Goodbye) Klaus said as he waved back and went down the street, heading home.

Though many things would change on his way back.

Now we are to shift our focus to the other end of the spectrum. Just outside the country of the Netherlands, in a country right on the boarder, evil was afoot.

In a room, oh, quite large. Probably the size of a school lunchroom. In it, many, many people were moving all around within. All of them were in uniforms, designating them as apart of the German Wehrmacht, the Waffen-SS to be exact. All around the room were long, rectangular tables, which held maps and papers, all necesarry to plan what was going down.

At one specific table, there stood a tall man, about six foot five inches. He was in a SS dress uniform. The black visored hat, with silver eagle spread out under the top brim. The silver skull and bones shined in the glimer of the overhead lights as his visor was tilted up, reflecting the light also onto the silver strap that went across.

His black jacket gave away much about his personality. The SS emblem on the right lapel, his rank on the left. His breast pockets showed off his medals and achievments, all of which glazed with the swastika embezled on them. The black strap went over his right shoulder and across his torso, ending with his black belt. On his left arm, there was postioned a red swastika arm band, with black stripes at the top and bottom. The black symbol we all know as the swastika glimmered with the appearence of evil as it sat in the white cirlce of the red band. Down the sleeve and near his wrist was a black band that read _SS-hauptamt_ in typical German script, white lettering.

Everything about him was physically intimidating. His face was cold and pale. The pale flesh rounded off in a very blocky and chizled cheek bone. His eyes were a deep, deep blue. Almost a midnight blue, on the verge of being black. They sat squarely on his face, giving the impression of being too close together, but just close enough to still make anybody who stared into them paralyzed with fear. His tight blond hair was exposed only out of the back of his cap, and was cut very short near the back of his head.

In total, this was a man of unlimited evil. His name, Nicolas Van Bartonschmeer.

_"Jakob, bringen Sie mir die Karten, jetzt!"_  
(James, bring me the maps, now!) he shouted at a man from across the room. His voice was very pitched and loud, enough to make anyone in the room tremble with fear. And they did.

_"Kommend, Sir. Sofort, Sir." _  
(Coming, sir. Right away sir.) Jakob cryed as he tripped over himself trying to get there. He was a very clumsy guy, and it is quite shocking he made it as far as he had in the Wehrmacht. Heck, he still had a retainer in his mouth, that went around his head in a metal ring. His blond hair was flipped up in a pompador type style, under his cap of course.

_"Ich habe nicht alle verdammten Tag Jakob, verdammt."_  
(I don't have all fucking day James, dammit!) Nicolas screamed as he slammed his fist on the table. He was extremely impatient, and when he demanded something, he expected it right before him.

_"Leider Sir, ich hatte ein wenig Schlupf."_  
(Sorry sir, I had a little slip.) Jakob said as he rubbed his forhead with his forearm and handed the ruffled maps to his superior in front of him.

_"Sind das die Karten für Case Gelb?"_  
(Are these the maps for Case Yellow?) Nicolas asked, grabbing the maps and throwing them down on the table infront of him, with a rather irritated look on his face.

_"Ja, Sir. Es ist wahr."_  
(Yes sir. It's true.) Jakob said as he nodded his head up and down.

_"Na dann, Bug ab und lass mich in Ruhe. Kannst du nicht sehen, ich bin beschäftigt?"_  
(Well then, bug off and leave me alone. Can't you see I'm busy?) he yelled as he made a shooing motion with his hand. He always found Jakob to be a general nuisance, and looked down with a careful eye at the maps infront of him.

_"Okay, dann."_  
(Okay then.) Jakob said as he clumsily walked over toward the door that was at the very end of the room, with the end wall.

_"Zieg Heil!"_ Jakob cryed as he opened the door and saw a particular person. He immediately stuck his arm up in the air, the Nazi salute. Everyone in the room, including Nicloas, stood at atteention and also saluted with the slanted arm.

In the room walked a very powerful man indeed. It was none other than Theodor Eicke, commander of the Waffen-SS.

He stepped in as his boots pounded the wooden floor. His eyes looked straight ahead as he looked around, trying to spot anyone breaking any rules. His uniform was quite different. His was gray, and had no tie. Instead, it had a metal Nazi cross hanging from the top of the collar, and his tabs on his collar showed off his very superior ranking.

His hair was very slick and greased, parted almost near the middle. He held his cap in his left hand. His face was stone cold, as was his expression on it. His eyes were spread far apart, and gave away that murderous look. The look of evil.

_"Wo ist Van Bartonschmeer?"_  
(Where is Van Bartonschmeer?) he called out as he looked around. Everyone put their arms down and just stood at attention as they all looked at Nicloas, who came forward, near the door. Eicke took the hint, and started walking toward him.

_"Heil Hitler."_ Nicolas said in an automated voice as he thrusted his arm up into the air. never moving a muscle.

_"__Ist alles in Ordnung?"_  
(Is everything in order?) Eicke said as he stared Nicolas straight in the eye. It was a deadening stare, a stare that could make the very blood of a person curdle with fear.

_"Ja, Sir, ist alles komplett und bereit zu gehen."_  
(Yes sir, everything is complete and ready to go). Nicolas said as he showed the General toward his table that contained all of the maps. Everyone else in the room went back to their activities that they were occupied with before.

_"Jetzt Nicolas, zu hören. Wir haben eine Menge von Männern und eine Menge von Tanks. Sie wissen, dass wir in der Lage sein, sie alle hinter ihren Linien zu bewegen?" _  
(Now Nicolas, listen. We have a lot of men and a lot of tanks. Do you know that we'll be able to move them all behind their lines?) the General said, pointing his fingers to the area titled _Niederlande _on the map. The map was covered in little Nazi flags, as well as little figures representing tanks. Lines were also drawn all over the map, representing lines and railroads that would be crucial in order for the Nazis to capture the Netherlands. The whole thing was a very maticulous plan, with too much detail and planning to go wrong.

_"Sir, wir sollten kein Problem haben, bei der Sicherung der niederländischen Linien. Wir haben die neunten Panzerdivision gehen hinter der Stadt Rotterdam, und dass wird öffnet sich ein Fenster für uns, die Fallschirmjäger in landen, und dann werden wir die Stadt in unserer Hand haben."_  
(Sir, we should have no problem in securing the Dutch lines. We have the ninth Panzer division going in behind the city of Rotterdam, and that is going to open up a window for us to land the paratroopers in, and then we will have the city in our hands.) Nicolas said as he pointed to a circle he had drawn around the city of Rotterdam.

_"Wo ist unser Eingangstor?"_  
(Where is our entrance point?) the General asked, this time in a more civil and calm voice.

_"Nach meiner Planung, sollten wir hier eingeben außerhalb Rotterdam. Wir glauben, dass dies die wichtigste Stadt ist gerade jetzt. Wir sollten die Panzers in erster bringen, zu räumen die Straßen und leeren die Städte. Die Divisionen, die zusammen mit ihnen gehen sollte in der Lage sein zu räumen alle Menschen auch. Nachdem wir alles bekommen so sauber, wie wir können, können wir bringen die Fallschirmjäger in und wickeln alles durcheinander."_  
(According to my planning, we should enter here outside Rotterdam. We believe that that is the most crucial city right now. We should bring the Panzers in first, to clear out the streets and empty the cities. The divisions that go along with them should be able to clear out any people as well. After we get everything as clean as we can, we can bring the paratroopers in and wrap everything up.) Nicolas said, moving his fingers along the path that he had drawn on the map of Rotterdam. The lines wrapped around the city, extending out into the woodlands and outskirts of the city. In total, they represented the route that the 9th Panzer Division would take to get into the city, and clear out any people that had not left.

_"Was __Amsterdam?"_  
(What about Amsterdam?) the General asked, addressing the major city of Amsterdam.

_"Ich glaube Steiner geht nach Amsterdam zu decken. Wenn nicht, habe ich eine Batterie von Menschen, die in gehen mit der 312. Infanterie und kann sich Amsterdam. Aber soweit ich weiß, ist Steiner abdeckt __Amsterdam."_  
(I believe Steiner is going to cover Amsterdam. If not, I have a battery of people that can go in with the 312th Infantry and get Amsterdam. But as far as I know, Steiner is covering Amsterdam.)

_"Steiner? Was würde Steiner über die Einnahme einer Stadt kennen. Er wird verschrauben zu viel. Wir brauchen jemanden mit mehr real, jemand nähere. Nur, wie viel Steiner konnte die ganze Sache verderben denken."_  
(Steiner? What would Steiner know about taking a city. He'll screw it up too much. We need someone more real, someone more detailed. Just think of how much Steiner could ruin the whole thing.) Gen. Eickle asked. Obviously, he wasn't too big of a fan of Gen. Steiner. In many ways, he had always felt underhanded by Steiner. As if Steiner was always stealing his thunder, whatever that was. Even the very name was enough to make him cringe with jealousy and rage.

Of course Steiner's legacy would outlive him.

_"Ich bin mir nicht sicher über Steiner, aber wir werden alles uns Mögliche tun, um Rotterdam zu nehmen. Das ist unser Hauptziel im Moment, und es ist alles, was ich an dieser Stelle __garantieren können."_  
(I'm not sure about Steiner, but we will do all we can to take Rotterdam. That is our main goal right now, and it's all I can guarantee at this point.) Nicolas said, trying to distance himself from the Steiner shadow as much as possible.

_"Was sollen wir mit den Leuten zu tun? Was sollen wir mit ihnen machen?"_  
(What are we going to do with the people? What are we going to do with them?) Nicolas asked, straightening his back up with the force of his pride.

_"Die Bürger, tun, was Sie wollen. Die Juden, zu töten. Tötet sie alle."_  
(The citizens; do what you wish. The Jews, kill them. Kill them all.) Eickle said, with a very cold and solid voice. Not one word slipped up from the other, nor did one syllable pass his lips that did not demand a since of realization nor thought. He said what he said. He meant what he said.

_"Tötet sie?"_  
(Kill them?") Nicolas asked, grabbing his collar with his two fingers. He felt as though the room had shrunk ten times, and that the temperature had rose over one hundred degrees. Sweat rolled from his cheeck as his face turned pale from the nervousness that shook his very bones, and rattled his very core.

_"Ja, sie töten, verdammt noch mal! Verbrennt sie alle zurück in die Hölle, wo sie hingehören! Der Führer verlangt!"_  
(Yes, kill them, dammit! Burn them all back to Hell where they belong! The Fuhrer demands!) Eickle said, slamming his fist down on the table. The emotion was sucked out of the room in an almost instant vacuum. No sound.  
No sanity, to speak of.

_"Ja, sir."_  
(Yes sir.) Nicolas said as he thrusted his slanted arm into the air. He felt as though following orders was more important than human rationalitly or emotion.

_"Nun gut. Ich werde mich jetzt nehmen. Just do wie du dich fühlst, Van Bartonschmeer. Das ist alles, was ich von euch fragen. Machen Sie es wie Sie sich fühlen und wie Sie gesagt."_  
(Very well then. I will take my leave now. Just do as you feel, Van Bartonschmeer. That's all I can ask of you. Do as you feel, and as you are told.) Eickle lowered his voice, feeling the burden of a thousand men. Tonight was the night, he thought. Tonight was the night, he knew.

He walked out of the room, leaving behind the silence that had been brought in with his entrance. There was something about what he had said. Something about his phrase about the Jews. _Kill them, kill them all! _That type of phrasing was almost alien, at this point in Nazi Germany. Sure, camps had already been set up and what not. But the very fact was that the Jews would now be pushed into complete near extinction by the Nazi Party. A whole religion of people, completely innocent of any thing, nearly wiped out because of one man.

The man of Evil. The man of Horror.

_"Okay, Männer, lasst uns zu mobilisieren! Wir haben eine Nation zu erobern!"_  
(Okay men, let's mobilize! We have a nation to conquer!) Nicolas exclaimed, throwing his arms up. In some completely screwed up way, he was ready to go out into the streets and shoot a Jew for himself.

The Horror had consumed him. He had become the Horror.

Back across the way, back across the border, was still sitting the city of Rotterdam, where the entire Kanker saga began. This one city in the Netherlands, responsible for so much. So much love and life for the future. It all has to start somewhere...

Klaus Kanker had just gotten back to his house, which sat in a little country side outside the city. The beautiful grassy plains and knolls crawled along the landscape, and beautiful green trees dotted the rolling hills. The cliche windmills twirled around to the beat of their own drum, not knowing whether to die down or to speed up. Either way, it was enough to add that slight touch of wonder to it all. As if Klaus Kanker, patriarch of the Kanker family, was really sittin' on top of the world. Just rollin' along.

It was roughly night time, just before the moon was set to rise over the rolling hills. The dark twilight had set in at this point, and was just beginning to engulf the whole country in an envelope of darkness and repose.

The house was quaint and tired looking, and obviously had some age to it. Enough age to prove that it had been with his family for a least several generations, though likely more. He came from a family of farmers, and it was his duty of his life to live out his family title of agriculture.

He walked through the front door of the little house, not noting whether it was empty or not. Of course it was not empty. It was simply just dark and quiet, and the only inhabitant at this current moment being his newlywed wife Karla.

There was one thing about his wife though, that is worth noting for the sake of the story; she is Jewish.

_"Karla, ben je thuis? Ben je hier?"_  
(Karla, are you home? Are you here?) Klaus called out, although he heard nothing but his own voice bounce back off the walls, and entering his ear channels once more. The quaint echo that almost assured him that she was not there, but else where. As if she existed only to be at the house for him when he came home. If he came home.

_"Karla, ik ben serieus. Waar ben je!"_  
(Karla, I'm being serious. Where are you!) he screamed, through his cuffed hands. But yet again, only his echo responded. All the lights were off as well, so there was no light to illuminate or bounce back any reflection of any slight hint of life.

Klaus dipped in and out of the front corridor, searching for the switch on the wall. He stretched his arm out as much as he could, searching for it in the best was he could. He hand moved up and down along the striped, wall-papered wall, pecking around for the light switch. After five minutes of fumbling, it was found next to the parlor entrance, and the chandelers up above came alive with a bright glow as soon as he flipped the ancient switch.

He breathed in heavy right before the act, and let out a large sigh of relief as soon as he did. It was almost as if he had expected something completely out of his thought process. Something along the lines of finding Karla humping some other man, or finding her dead in the floor, or maybe a mixture of both. Either way it was too frightening for him to fully picture in his mind. The thought of something happening to the one person he cared about more than life itself. That one person being his wife Karla, the matriarch to the Kanker family.

He poked around the parlor entrance and let out a very large sigh of relief. He saw his wife sitting in her chair, with her arms wrapped around herself. The look on her face was of that of extreme terror and fright, as if she had just seen the most horrible thing she could have ever imagined. And in some respects, she had.

_"Karla, ben je in orde? Wat is er aan de hand? Alsjeblieft, zeg iets!"_  
(Karla, are you okay? What's going on? Please, please say something!) he yelled as he hurried into the parlor as quick as he could. The lighting was bare, and the glare that came from the hallway chandeler was the only light right now, and it's dim light barely, if any, illuminated this deeply into the parlor.

He grabbed her tight in his arms in a very clinching embrace. It was enough to knock the wind straight out of her. It was an embrace of nothing but love. Love and fear, because fear played an equal part in this entire scene. This entire picture, brought before them in a semi-real format.

Karla looked up and him, her breathing very hyperventilated. She simply just stared into his eyes, the breath racing in and out from her lips. She was moving straight into a textbook panic attack, plain and simple.

_"Karla, vertel me, wat er gaande is! Vertel me ..."_  
(Karla, tell me, what is going on! Just tell me...) he shouted at her, grabbing her shoulders with his hands. Her long and elgant brunette hair drapped over them, and had the scene not been so serious and real, Klaus would have immediatley been turned on by this. But now was not the time. Now was the time for fear.

Fear of the Horror.

_"De, ... de ..."_ she said, still breathing heavily.

_"De wat? De wat? Vertel me ..."_  
(The what? The what? Tell me...) he said, grabbing her shoulders ever and ever more tight. He could see the Horror reflected in her eyes, though he couldn't quite make it completely out.

_"De venster..."_  
(The window...) she said, limply pointing her finger to the heavily drapped and covered picture window.

Klaus let her go and slowly stumbled over to it, not knowing what to expect. He had some feeling, though he didn't know what. It was just that sickening feeling. Like when you've eaten one too many candies, yet you still want just one more. It was that feeling that consumed him this very moment, and made him go through his whole life in his mind, one minute at a time.

He was approaching the Horror.

Klaus pulled the heavy, faded drapes to reveal the glass picture window of which they covered. Out of it was darkness, plain and simple. Until he brought his head up. Until he looked up above the darkness, he saw what darkness really was. His jaw dropped, his hand shaked, his mind raced.

He saw hundreds of Nazi Luftwaffe war planes racing across the dark sky, with hundreds of paratroopers dropping out of them; their gentile parachutes cushioned them down to a steep fall with in the city. He could hear that loud roar of the engines as they flew across the horizon, flying straight into the city. He could see the bombs dropping. The falling bombs. The people running for shelter.

Goodbye blue sky.

_"Oh mijn God..."_ he said, his lip trembling and his eyes watering. He had to back away, and nearly tripped over his heels in doing so. He had seen the Horror, and it never felt so real.

_"Wat doen we? Wat doen we ..."_  
(What do we do? What do we do...) he asked, as he hand shook in complete fear. But come to think of it, his whole body shook in fear. All the paranoia, all the fright, all the fear. It had all come true, and was sitting just outside his window, glaring back at him with Death's only glare: fear.

_"Ik __weet het niet ..."_  
(I don't know...) his wife said, in a very offhand way. Her words followed in a sequence of events that could only be described as soft and low. As if her voice was called or forced to come out, like that of a ventriliquist forcing his dummy to repeat his every line. That is how her fear was treating her right now. Casting her voice everywhere where it shouldn't be. Every which way but here.

Klaus had to step back for a moment. He knew it was only enough to make him think. But think about what? A lot of things, actually. He had to think about the moment. Not about the future, not about the past; but about the moment. This very moment. There was not but so much he could do, or he would be able to do. Because in reality, he was only one man. But one man can do so much.

He walked over to his wife, and looked her straight in the eye. It was a look of geniune fear, but also a look of leadership. He had no reason to be anything but serious right now. It was the only thing he had to do.

_"Luister, Karla. Ik ga naar de stad, en uit te zoeken wat er gaande is. Terwijl ik weg ben, wil ik niet dat je het huis niet uit. Houd alle lichten uitgesneden en alle gordijnen dicht. Ga naar boven naar de zolder en verberg totdat ik terug ben."_  
(Listen, Karla. I am going to go into the city, and find out what is going on. While I'm gone, I don't want you to leave the house. Keep all the lights cut out and all the drapes closed. Go up into the attic and hide until I get back.)

He grabbed her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. It was the first time that he actually feared for her safety, and her life.

_"Waarom, waarom gaan? Blijf hier! Blijf bij me, in mijn armen. Spreek liefde voor mij Klaus!"_  
(Why, why go? Stay here! Stay with me, in my arms. Speak love to me Klaus!) She also grabbed his shoulders in her hands, and the tears were beginning to drip around her eyes, soaking up any doubt that would have accumulated.

_"Ik heb er geen te geven ..."_  
(I have none to give...) he said, the frown and melancholy stretching across his cross and drab face. The face of a thousand worries, all coming to him at once, in one single solitary moment.

He walked over to the wall and grabbed his personal Mauser rifle off the rack that was hung over the fireplace. His love for his wife would be the one thing he would die for, and probably the only thing. Since he lived through her, he figured his life would be enough to keep hers going strong. His life for hers, all in the name of love.

_"Ik kom terug als ik kan. Maar onthoud altijd, je zal altijd mijn liefde hebben. Geen vervloekte politiestaat invasie kan dat veranderen. U zult altijd mijn liefde. Is gewaarborgd."_  
(I'll be back if I can. But always remember, you will always have my love. No damned police state invasion can change that. You will always have my love. It is guaranteed.) he said as leaned down to his wife. A single kiss he placed on her lips, but she wouldn't let go. She pulled him in for a full kiss. She gripped him in her hands the way a florist would grip a prize winning rose that was found withered and dead on the floor. The feeling of giving so much, for it all to end in so little. And it would. It would end.

He left out the door, and not with haste either. He left with a rather sluggish waltz. He was dancing the dance of a thousand worries, a thousand problems. When you have to consider not only your own life in danger, but that of someone you love, it all takes on a different meaning. A deeper meaning, one of coveted signifigance. Not knowing when or where something would happen, but it happens anyway.

The blue vanishes from the sky and into the heart. And if often stays there, for many generations even. Happiness can be vanished simply by genetics, it is that simple.

However, he did turn his back to look back slighly, being the proverbial Lot's wife in this situation. He looked back at the house. The house he had called home for so many years of his life. That very house, now dark and gloomy. Showing no emotion, no soul. Just sitting there, doing nothing and seeing nothing. Just sitting there.

In the city, there was an explosion of war and invasion. The planes could still be seen flying high over the houses and businesses. Walking into the entrance to the city, Klaus ran quickly and ducked behind a brick wall, looking over to the stone paved streets with only the tops of his eyes glancing over the stone wall. He was trying to be as secretive as possible, hiding in the darkness of night, with only the glowing shimmer of the street lamps to illuminate any traces of his person.

_"Wat is er __aan de hand?"_  
(What's going on?) he asked himself as his eyes searched all over the street, and up the street that adjoined the street he was looking onto.

In truth, there was right much going on. One building was being consumed in fire. It was a library. The books smoldered and burned page by page. The Nazi message was to burn any books that disagreed with them, and of course they just burned them all. The flames climbed high into the night, almost burning the very atmosphere that made the night dark to begin with.

He saw a squadron of Nazi soldiers strolling down the road, with a Panzer tank rolling behind them. They were part of the 9th Panzer division, and were quite busy capturing the city for good. The soldiers could not have been older than twenty; any of them. Their green uniforms brandished their brown rifles, gripped tightly in their hands. It was almost as if none of them wanted to be there, as if some marionette string was commanding their every move. They didn't move by will, but by requirement. All for this false promise of the "Vaderland," whatever that is.

They walked past the brick wall, in march step. The commands _Ein-Zwei, Ein-Zwei _were heard as the boots made heavy clicks off of the pavement. And of course the tank rolled behind them, the tracks making the heaviest roaring sounds as it rolled by. The green men and machinary soon passed by, leaving only the faded marching commands auidible to Klaus.

He stood up, looking back and forth quickly with his eyes to make sure the entire coast was clear. And of course he saw no one around him, no one in sight. Only the crackling sound of the fires, and the deathly sound of the fear. The Horror.

Walking down to the end of the road, he turned down a back alley way, behind all the businesses and shops that went up and down the main street of the city. The lamps did not shine here, and left a very still darkness that only the few-and-far-between fires could penetrate. The only sound now was of the various scattered Wehrmacht squadrons marching all over the city. The planes were still flying all over, and made a very loud roar that captured the fear felt by anyone who lived here. Of course, any of these people were either dead or hiding in their homes, not daring to come and and wake up to the nightmare.

"_Psst, Psst" _one voice let out. It was louder than a whisper, but not loud enough to be completely audible. Klaus did not hear it, and continued walking.

"_Klaus!" _the voice said, in a loud scream.

_"Huh?" _he said, stopping and looking around.

An arm reached out from the back door of one of the shops and snatched his arm, pulling him in. It was quick and sneaky, and happened before Klaus could even figure out what was going on. It was very rapid, and the arm pulled him in through the door, closing it behind him.

_"Klaus, doen wat je hier? Weet je niet het onveilig is?"_  
(Klaus, what are you doing out here? Don't you know it's unsafe?) The man said to Klaus. The room they were in was pitch dark, so no face was visible. The voice was familiar, though. That much was clear.

_"Rodrieck?"_ Klaus asked, shocked at the very fact that he was speaking to his friend. He was more shocked that he was still alive.

_"Ja, nu stil. Ze zullen je horen."_  
(Yes, now hush. They'll hear you.) Rodrieck said, lighting a match and holding it up. He grabbed a small lantern and lit the wick, creating a bright glow that was enough to light up the small windowless strorage room.

_"Wat doen we nu?"_  
(What do we do now?) Klaus asked, taking a cigarette from his breast pocket and lighting it with a match of his own. He shook the match several times before tossing it to the side, and puffing his cigarette two times before placing in his fingers and looking around. He was sitting on the ground, with his knees pointing up into the air.

_"Ik weet het niet. Ze zijn overal. Ik denk niet dat er iets is wat we kunnen doen."_  
(I don't know. They're everywhere. I don't think there's anything we can do.) Rodrieck sat down on a crated box after saying this, lighting up a cigarette for himself. The nerves running through him were rampant. Everything was just too much for him to handle. It was all moving too fast.

All of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, a loud crash sounded. It was more than enough to shock the two men sitting in this back room. The sound was very similar to a door being busted in. Then the proof was unavoidable. The sound came from with in the building.

Klaus and Rodrieck both grasped their rifles tight in their hands, never letting go. Klaus was busy reciting Lutheran prayers to himself, while Rodrieck was saying the Hail Mary over and over.

_"Wees gegroet Maria, vol van genade. De __Heer is met u..."_

There was a stirring noice coming from the front of the store, as well as the sound of glass breaking and metal bending. The two could hear several men mumbling and whispering in German. This was all before the door knob on the door to the storage room started to jiggle violently back and forth, up and down. There was a sound of a booted foot kicking it harder and harder each time.

_"Öffnen! Öffnen Sie diese Tür sofort! Bestellungen der Waffen-SS!" _  
(Open! Open this door immediately! Orders of the Waffen-SS!) the dark voice barked from the other side of the wood. From the other side of reality.

The two men just stood there, not moving any of their muscles. Just stood there.

After several minutes, the jiggling stopped. They heard a count of _ein, zwei, drei... _before the door busted down before them, stirring the dust that cast many dancing shadows onto the illuminated wall before them.

_Ein, zwei, drei, alle..._

The two men, these two innocent men; hands washed of any common sin. They had crucified no one.

_"Wer bist du?"_  
(Who are you?) Klaus asked in his best German. He had grown up learning both languages his entire life.

The man stood in front of him for several minutes before he answered. His dark, chisled face and black uniform blending into the night as though there was no difference at all. The red Swastika band floated around his arm as though it were just floating in the night. His blackish-blue eyes pierced into Klaus, as if his entire life was being questioned into this small, encaptured moment.

_"Ich bin Hauptmann Nicolas Van Bartonschmeer. Ich bin ein Offizier neben der Waffen-SS. Sie befinden sich nun unter deutscher Kontrolle. Wir sind Ihr Führer."_  
(I am Hauptmann Nicolas Van Bartonschmeer. I am an officer apart of the Waffen-SS. You are now under German control. We are your leaders.) he said. He had two regular soldiers behind him, their Mauser 98k rifles gripped tightly in their hands. Their green helmets showed off the SS lightning bolt insignia indicative of the Waffen-SS. They held their rifles deadly close at the two men, whom they feared more than hated.

Rodrieck walked up to Van Bartonschmeer and gave him an evil glance and a disgusted expression. He was obviously testing his limits; but sometimes it is just too much.

_"Luister, we willen niets te maken met je smerige Duitsers. Dus als je het niet erg verlaten, zouden we niet .. zorg __-"_  
(Listen, we want nothing to do with you filthy Germans. So if you don't mind leaving, we would not care..-)

Bang.

Rodrieck was shot in the left of his head by Nicolas at point blank range with his handgun. The bullet traveled through his left temple and exited out his right, causing the skull to open up from the side and spill the interior of his brain all over the tile floor as he fell and hit the ground. The blood splattered against the wall, and ran drip by drip on the tiles around the feet of the men still standing. The top part of his skull was at least a foot from the rest of his head, which was still leaking blood all over. He was dead, and for no reason at all, except by the Horror's command.

_"Ihr Freund hatte eine laute Mund ..."_  
(Your friend had a loud mouth...) Nicolas said, dropping the hand gun down to his side, but still not releasing his firm grasp on it. His face was still a dark force. However, it was almost like there was something behind it all. A sinister grin trying to eek out.

Klaus could only stand there, in utter shock. No, shock would be a great understatement. _Fear _was a better description. The look on his was of that of terror and moral fear. The blood from his friends head puddling all around his feet, leaving a red film on the bottom of his shoes. The look on Nicolas' face was that like a five year old child who was caught stealing cookies; a look of delight and anger. A sinister look, hardly human.

_"Jetzt Dutchie Sie entweder mit uns kommen, und kommen Sie mit den Führer, oder wir werden die Wände mit Ihrem Gehirn als auch zu schmücken."_  
(Now Dutchie, you either come with us, and join the leader, or we will decorate the walls with your brains as well.) he said, as he grabbed Klaus' arm and yanked him away. Klaus was so paralyzed with fear, so terrified, he couldn't think. He just allowed him to take him, and drag him through the front of the store, over the broken glass and the rest of the debris.

_"Werden wir ihn zu töten?"_  
(Are we going to kill him?) one of the Heer soldiers asked, turning to Nicolas as the walked out of the store and into the dark, brick-paved street.

_"Nein, er ist nun ein privates in der Waffen-SS."_  
(No. He is now a private in the Waffen-SS.) Nicolas said, as he stood Klaus up to his feet. He slapped his back as he began to chuckle wildely.

Klaus could only take a large gulp, and could feel a tear escape from his eye. One single tear that rolled off of his check, and fell to the pavement. It hit the pavement like,... like one thousand souls all crying out the same question:

Why?

Nicloas led him by the gun point to a small building that was just across from the burning library from which fire-fringed books toppled from the windows and hit the brick-pavement like melting marshmallows falling from the sticks of campers: from the heat into the fire.

Nicolas flashed open the metal door and tossed Klaus in. Klaus flew across the tile floor and bashed his upper arm of the wall that ran parallel to the front door.

_"Unter meiner Führung dieser Waffen-SS-Division, sind Sie nun eine private im deutschen Heer. Sie haben Ihre Treue zum Vaterland geschworen und wird bis zum Tod kämpfen, um den Führer zu schützen. Ich höre von anzukündigen Sie als Soldat Klaus Kanker. Heil Hitler!"_  
(Under my leadership of this Waffen-SS division, you are now a private in the German Heer. You have sworn your allegiance to the fatherland and will fight to the death to protect the Leader. I hear by announce you as Soldat Klaus Kanker. Heil Hitler!) Nicolas said as he stood in the doorway. Klaus could only look up at him with a blank stare. A man that felt so hollow inside, it was ridiculous. He just watched him as he tossed a stack of clothes next to Klaus.

_"Was sind diese?"_  
(What are these?) Klaus asked, halfway picking up the top clothing with his right hand.

_"Ihre Uniform. Und du würdest am besten kümmern sich um sie. Es ist ganz neu aus der Presse. Ich hoffe, es passt ..."_  
(Your uniform. And you'd best take care of it. It is brand new off the press. I hope it fits...) Nicolas said as he walked off, leaving Klaus in the room to put on the uniform.

Klaus reluctantly stood up and unfolded the green clothes that were folded neatly underneath a green bowl shaped device. The first thing on top were the green slacks that went with the uniform. He slid off his brown pants and slid the uniform ones on, placing the suspenders over his shoulders to hold them on. Nest were the boots, tall and black. Leather steel, completely cold and dead. Then came his shirt: a green, long sleeve shirt with two pockets on the front (with a silver Nazi eagle on top of the right breast pocket, and a Nazi cross pined to the left breast pocket). Two tabs were sewn to the collar: Two silver stripes. On his shoulder tabs was the typical rounded-on-one-end green flap that symbolized his status as a peon soldat. Seven brass buttons went up the front, and fastend tightly to his torso as he slid the shirt on. He buttoned up every button as he tightened his torso belt and adjusted it to look right.

Lastly came his stahlhelm helmet, the ultiment icon of Nazi Germany. He placed it snug on his head: the red/white/blue striped decal one one side, the Nazi eagle on the other. The brown leather strap wrapped around his chin, and he fasten the buckle, tighening it completely to his angled, square head.

Klaus stepped back and looked into a cracked mirror in the ramsackeled building. He could see nothing but the Nazi version of himself. It didn't even look like him. It was almost a completely different person. He was no longer an induvidual. He was now part of the generic Vaderland, and there was no looking back from this point of view.

He opened the metal door back open and walked out, his new black boots clicking off of the brick pavement. This iconic sound was enough to make Nicolas take notice, as he was going over battle plans with a couple other men in the street in front of him.

_"Männer, begrüßen unsere neuen Kameraden, Soldat Klaus Kanker. Heil Hitler!"_  
(Men, welcome our new comrade, Private Klaus Kanker. Heil Hitler!) Nicolas screamed as he thrusted his hand into the air, followed by all the men around him. All except Klaus, who still just stood there, not saying a word.

_"Ich sagte: Heil Hitler!"_  
(I said, Heil Hitler!) Nicolas said again, looking angrily at Klaus.

"Heil Hitler!" Klaus said, thrusting his hand into the air.

Welcome to the machine.

Klaus humped around the city with his group of about ten men led by Nicolas. The moved around, but Klaus could not tell where. They were moving outside the city; that much was clear by the fact that the street lamps were now a distant glow in the rear of the group. The gravel road was very different from the brick paved streets. The click the boots once made was now muffled to a thud. Klaus walked on, with his rifle in his hands. His new Gewher 98 bolt action rifle, locked and loaded. He felt so strange walking this way, with these people. He didn't feel like Klaus Kanker anymore. He felt like the artist fomerly known as Klaus Kanker. He was just another peg or gear in the giant war machine. A place where he did not want to be.

They came along the tree stetched road until a loud _"Halt!"_ was heard from Nicloas as all the men stopped, looking up ahead. Nicloas just motioned with his hand for them to come around the bend, to see what he was seeing. Of course they all, including Klaus, moved around to see what was going on.

_"Schauen Sie, es ist ein Haus."_  
(Look, it's a house.) Nicolas said, stretching his hand out to point. He grabbed his binoculars and peered around the large farm house while the other men mumbled amongst each other.

All except Klaus, who stood there, almost having an out-of-body experience. It was his house he was looking at. His house and his wife inside.

_"Was sollen wir tun?"_  
(What should we do?) one of the soldiers asked Nicolas who was still looking through his binoculars. He spotted something, and a mile-wide grin came across his face. He put his binoculars down and looked back at the soldier who had asked.

_"Ich glaube, ich weiß."_  
(I believe I know.) he said, as he motioned with his hand as the men ran down the hill and got to the front porch of the house. They all pressed their backs against the side of the house, and gripped their rifles. Nicolas still with his grin, kicked the door in and stormed in, with the other men following quickly behind him.

_"Hat jemand hier zu leben?"_  
(Does anybody live here?) the same soldier from before asked. They all looked around at the illuminated farm house, and were in amazement at the nice-ness of it all. All except Klaus, who simply shook in his boots, knowing what was just around the corner...

The men went around the corner and into the parlor entrance, when all of a sudden Nicolas stopped and thrusted his rifle straight infront of him, pointing his eye straight into the sight. The grin never left his face.

_"Wir wissen jetzt, ..."_  
(We know now...) Nicolas said as he moved forward, with the men following behind him. Sitting on the sofa, cowered in fear, was Karla Kanker, the wife of Klaus.

_"Ich mag, was ich sehe ..."_  
(I like what I see...) one soldier said, and the rest just started cat calling and whistling. The frail yound eighteen year old woman just sat there, still shaking horribly. She looked up and made eye contact with Klaus, and didn't say a word. She just simply felt one tear roll down, that was all.

_"Alles klar, alle richtigen Männer. Ein zu einer Zeit. Es gibt genug Pussy hier um zu gehen."_  
(All right, all right men. One at a time. There's enough pussy here to go around.) Nicolas said as he placed his rifle on the ground and walked toward her. He grabbed her arm tight in his hand, and pulled it away from her chest. He squinted and saw something on her chest. A little yellow star, sewn onto her chest.

_"Was ist das?"_  
(What is it?) one of the soldiers asked.

_"Sie ist ein Jude." _  
(She's a Jew.) Nicolas said, as he ripped her up from the couch and ripped her clothes off of her with his bayonet. He proceeded to rape her, and did so qutie violently. He then passed her off to the next soldier, then the next, then the next, and so on. All the way till it got time for Klaus. But Klaus just stood there, miserably looking at his bloody and bruised wife, looking up at him with tear soaked eyes. Only one word crossed her lips:

_"Töte mich"_  
(Kill me)

Nicolas looked straight ahead to Klaus, with the most evil grin imaginable.

_"Sie hörte, wie sie Klaus, sie zu töten. Sie sagte so."_  
(You heard her Klaus, kill her. She said so.) he said, motioning for his rifle on the ground.

**_"Nein." _**

_"Was hast du gesagt, du Jude verdammte Dutchie?"  
_(What did you say, you Jew-fucking Dutchie?) Nicolas asked, giving him a sarcastically angry face.

**_"Nein."_ **

"Entweder Sie schießen sie jetzt, oder ich werde persönlich Büste Kopf mit dem Hintern Ende mein Gewehr! Jetzt schießen sie! Jetzt!"  
(Either you shoot her now, or I will personally bust your head in with the butt end of my rifle! Now shoot her! Now!) Nicolas said, screaming at Klaus. Klaus slowly bent down and picked up his rilfe, and slowly pulled and pushed the bolt, loading a fresh round into the chamber.

_"Jetzt!"_ Nicolas shouted.

A whimpering Klaus slowly aimed his rifle at him sobbing, violated wife. He closed his eye and pulled the trigger.

Bang.

Nein.

_"Ah, was zum Teufel, verpasste die niederländische Junge!"_  
(Ah, what the hell! The Dutch boy missed!) one of the soldiers cried, as they all looked at the bullet hole Klaus had made in the couch. The green couch.

_"Hier, lass eine professionelle tun ..."_  
(Here, let a professional do this...) Nicolas sighed as he pulled out his Luger handgun from his belt and aimed it directly at Karla Kanker's hear. She just sobbed and shook her head, repeating _Nein, nein! _over and over again. Nicolas simply grinned hard and squeezed the trigger.

Bang.

Ja.

The head of Karla Kanker now resembled a rotten Jack-o-Lantern that had been stepped on. Blood oozed all over the green couch, and brain matter was scattered all over. Her naked, raped body lay there on the couch, and the nine other men laughed histerically. Klaus fell to his knees, and took his helment off, puking into it. Off in the distance, the sound of the airplanes started again, as the German bombers moved in a light the city up in an array of Hell. The bombs rained and blew completely and bashed the city which was about five miles down the road from this house. The flames could be seen from the windows, and the tall St. Lawrence church was now one giant candle burning into the night. The fire was the only thing that was visible now in the city. The bombs rained down, completely destroyed what ever there was five miles away. The fire burned and burned, painting the black sky a bright orange.

Fire is the Devil's only friend...

Klaus sill vomited into his helment.

Nicolas then dared to do something which is probably the most inhuman thing imaginable.

He raped the dead body of Karla Kanker.

Klaus pressed his hands to his weeping eyes and belted out long sobs. In his mind, he could see a thousand hands going up, and thousand "Ja's" being chanted by the masses. A thousand voices crying out. He could see the bruised, bloody raped face of his wife, the sinsister look of his officer. He could see the horrible image of a very evil man raping a woman whose head was blown off from behind like some horny college student. The smile on Nicolas' face, the most unhuman smile imaginable. Klaus could not believe how heartless and moraless this man could really be. His entire life had come tumbling down. But somehow, through it all, he could see something thorugh his tears. It was strange, but he could see a little girl. A little girl, with..._blue _hair? Somehow he had come to see that image. But it was soon blurred out by the screams and laughter of the demons that surrounded him. Klaus felt like he was asleep, and this was all some horribly messed up dream.

Wake up to the nightmare...


	78. Chapter LXXVIII

Big Warning: This chapter contains material not suitable for those under the age of 16. Material includes themes such as very graphic war violence pertaining to the Holocaust.

Also, I have posted some picture links on my proflie page which give actual, accurate visuals on the Dachau concentration camp, among other things. I recommend checking it out.

This is the final installment in the Kanker background. After this chapter, I will move back into the actual story line. This chapter is the second and final segment of the background of Klaus Kanker, the great-grandfather of the Kanker sisters.

Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter LXXVIII

It was now a bright sunny day, somewhere west of Berlin, and south of Munich. The rolling green hills of the German country side were beautifully painted as they crested in and out, in and out. The giant rolls of hay and patches of crops looked as if they naturally blended in with the sceneary. There was something about all of this. The tall farm houses that stretched across the vast plains, as well as the people that moved along the trails wrapping around them. But these were not ordinary people, no. They were green uniformed, rifle carrying Nazi soldiers, all following the other in an almost never ending sequence of marching. Going up and down, up and down the narrow roads that stretched across this vast desert of green and more green. Nothing more, nothing less.

The platoon of soldiers marched on as Volkswagen jeeps and Panzer tanks rolled along side of them, stirring up the dirt and debris that lay side-folded on the empty barriers that seperated the grass from the dirt. The sound of a thousand men marching side by side. The sound of a thousand rifles clicking and clanging with the thuderous sound of metal and wood. The mumuring of hundreds of Nazi soldiers, conversating and whispering, trying to connect to each other in a way that was still approachable in the midst of all this choas. Even in the middle of all this turmoil, these young boys still found a way to act like their age required. Most of them, heck, just about all of them were seventeen or eighteen year old kids who were, in every sense of the phrase, farm-fresh.

Up ahead, in the middle of the mass of the men that were moving along, rode one Volkswagen jeep that was painted a deep matte black and roared along with the dust kicking up from up underneath the rigid tires. Overhead, the red swastika flag flapped back and forth in the wind. Inside the top two seats that were positioned high on a perch were two of our previously requested German officers: Nicolas Van Bartonschmeer and Jakob.

"It's a beautiful day, is it not?" Nicolas asked Jakob as he searched around. The sky was a pale blue and the clouds were stretched quite thin and pale, typical of an autum German day. There was a slight crispness to the air, and it gave the men all the more reason to cling to their uniforms. It wasn't cold, but the wind was enough to keep one aware.

"It certainly is." Jakob said as he sniffled in and took a puff of the cigarette that was dangling from in between his thumb and index finger. The swastika on his arm was just barely clinging onto his skinny arm, so it he was constantly adjusting it to be certain. He carefully pushed his round metal glassess up the bridge of his nose and looked around. Nothing around him but the beautiful countryside and the green grass. That and the soldiers that were marching all around could certainly not be ignored in any measure.

"Sir," Jakob said, turing to his commander in an off hand way, "what do you think of the allies?"

This question was rather odd. It was especially awkward of Jakob to ask it. It was 1944. The Allies had just invaded Europe that June. The death clock was ticking for Nazi Germany, everyone knew it. Especially a high officer like Nicolas. It was all too certain for him. He was marching with hundreds of men, most of them marching to their death. They were pretty much surrounded by their enemies all around. And at large, all these young boys were being sacrificed for this false idea of the "Vaderland." A false premise taken askew.

"What do you mean?" Nicolas asked, as his nervousness began to show with the sweat starting to bead on his forehead.

"You know, the allies have us surrounded. We are pretty much doomed to fail. Our operations can't be ignored forever." Jakob said, taking a puff from his cigarette and tossing it out into the wind to be carried off somewhere other than here.

"Believe me Jakob, we have nothing to worry about from the damned Americans or English. They won't bother us one bit I can tell you. As long as we have confidence in the Vaderland, the Fuher will guide us to victory." Nicolas said.

"But sir, that's sort of my point. What if, you know, the Vaderland fails us. We are outnumbered. Our country is destroyed. The people won't take this much loner I don't suppose. Before long you'll have riots, and mobs, and protests. It's a civil war in the making!"

"Don't worry so much Jakob. I wouldn't if I were you. You just have to -" Nicolas cut himself off as he saw a uniformed soldier from his ranks running off the path and away from the garrison.

"Hey, stop him. Get him!" Nicolas cried out as he looked to his armed guards right beside him. "The one running off there, the one breaking from the pack."

The man that was running for his life was Klaus Kanker, a regular infantry in the Waffen SS now. He had attempted desertion numerous times before, never being successful. He didn't like the military at all. He didn't like killing, and he especially didn't like fighting for the people that killed his family and took control of his life. He didn't believe in the "Vaderland" and wanted to bust out before he was killed by the allied forces.

The two guards tackled him as the whole garrison stopped and looked on as Klaus' hands were tied and he was drug back to the jeep that held his commanding officer. He looked up and saw the angry look of Nicolas Van Bartonshmeer. The man that Klaus knew could only think and do evil. He looked into his eyes and felt as if he was staring straight into the devil's eyes. The eyes of evil; the eyes of horror.

"Kanker!" he said with a loud roar that made the spines of every man there tremble. "I have had it with your constant disobeyment of rules. I want you out of here, Kanker. I want you to suffer. I don't want you ever to serve with me again, you filty disgusting pig. Since you obviously don't like serving with me in the infantry, I will send you somewhere where you'll feel more at home."

Nicolas then took out a pad of paper and scribbled down some words onto it. He ripped it off as Klaus' eyes began to sink a little more into his skull. Nicolas handed off the document to one of the guards.

"Take one of the Volkswagens and take him to the place designated. That is all." Nicolas said as the guard read the piece of paper. He grinned a little bit as he figured out the details and nodded his head up and down.

"Yes sir, as you say sir." he said as he and the other guard grabbed Klaus and the dragged him to a Volkswagen jeep at the rear of the garrison. They got in and shoved Klaus in the back, pulling off and turning around, driving down the road opposite the garrison.

"Were did you send him?" Jakob asked, looking back at the dust cloud that was stirred up by the jeep wheels of the two guards carrying Klaus away.

"Don't worry, it's somewhere where he'll have lots of fun." Nicolas said as he chuckled to himself, in a very sadistic fashion. "He'll have lots of fun."

By the time Klaus had woken up, it was early morning. He had fallen asleep on the 10 hour drive. The sun was just coming over the green hills, and the smell of rail grease and death filled the air. He wasn't pleased by it at all. In fact it had to be one of the most unpleasent oders he had ever smelled.

"Where are we?" Klaus asked after a yawn to the two guards in the front seat, who had taken turns driving through the night.

"Look and see, labour makes you free." the guard that was driving said as he chuckled. All that Klaus saw was two doors and a swastika emblem over them. A guard post was next to the two front gate doors. A guard was in there, and haulted the vehicle as it pulled up.

"Halt, who goes there?" he asked as he leaned out.

"Heil Hitler!" The driver announced as he thrusted his arm in the air.

"Heil," the post-guard said as he did the same. "State your, rank, and purpose."

"Soldat first class Henreich." the driver said, "I am under order of Hauptmann Nicolas Van Bartonschmeer to transport one Soldat Klaus Kanker to this place."

"Under what purpose?" the post-guard asked as he stuck his hand out and grabbed the letter that Henreich had given him.

"To be stationed as a guard here." Henreich said.

"I see," the guard said, reading the paper, "carry on."

He opened the doors and the jeep rolled on down the path. It pulled infront of a gate that read _Abreit Macht Frei, _ German for "Labour makes you free." A Nazi officer stepped out from a building and flagged down the jeep. As soon as he walked over, Klaus gulped. He knew where he was now.

"Gentlemen, what have we here? A new guard sent to me by Nicolas? How delightful." the officer said as he went over to Klaus."

Klaus examined the man. He had on a black SS uniform and cap. He had on round metal glasses similar to Jakob. He had a thin pale face and a barely noticeable moustache. He reached out and shook Klaus' hand with a smile on his face.

"I am Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler, commander of this fine establishment here. And who might you be?" he asked Klaus.

"Soldat Klaus Kanker." he said, shaking his hand nervously.

"Kanker, quite an odd name. Is it Dutch?" Himmler asked.

"Yes sir, yes it is." Klaus said, as he let go of his hand.

"Very well, Klaus. Welcome to Dachau Concentration Camp." Himmler said as he lit a cigarette and took Klaus with him inside the big administration building. The two other men pulled off and away in the jeep, never to be seen again. Two hours outside Dachau, the jeep was hit by a Howitzer shell and blown into a big heap of burning leather and metal.

Klaus and Himmler walk down the stone path toward the big office building in the camp. On the way, they walked by the barbed fence that went around the work area of the camp. From the inside, hundreds of Jews, young and old, held out their arms passed the wire fence. Most of the arms were cut and bloody from the barbs, but they still held them out anyway. All of them, lingering for some type of human contact; some type of help. Within the camp, hundreds of Jews were shoveling dirt and doing work over and over. A faint smell of gas was hinted, as smoke poured out of the top of a building far off from where he was now. Klaus and Himmler walked in the building and Himmler took Klaus back to his office.

"Now son," Himmler said as he sat at his desk, "you're going to have to go down to resources and get your uniform, weapons, and a room. I'll handle all the paperwork of registering you here as a guard. As soon as you come back with your new uniform on, I'll hand you your papers on your new job. Welcome aboard."

"Where is resources?" Klaus asked.

"The next building over. Tell them you're new and that you need a guard uniform, weapons, and a room in the barricks. Come here after that is taken care of. Understood?" Himmler said, standing up.

"Yes sir." Klaus said, looking up at him.

"Heil Hitler!" Himmler said, thrusting his arm into the air.

"Heil Hitler." Klaus said, reluctantley placing his limp arm in the air.

Klaus left the room and then the building. He walked over to the building that had the word _Ressourcen _posted over the door. Klaus did as he was told, and got his uniform, arment, and his room in the barricks. His room was 64B. He was going to share it with four other guards.

He went back to Himmler with his new black uniform and helment on. Klaus felt like a completely different person. He felt almost like a robot, who was just being programed to perform tasks upon command. He was basically belittled to the class of a dog, performing tricks and obeying commands. If he tried to break away from the other pack, he would certainly want to break from this one as well.

"Ah, Welcome back son. You look rather nice in that black outfit. Very much SS material. Here is your post. You are to guard over the digging area. For 12 hours a day, from six to six, you will guard the Jews there. Go there now and show your papers to Hauptmann Eidrick. He'll show you how to do your job. Just go down and report to the digging area. Show the guards your new ID that I'm going to give you now, and report to Eidrick. Got that?" Himmler asked, as he handed the stack of papers and ID to Klaus.

"Sir, yes sir." Klaus said as he took the stack and left the building.

As he was leaving, Klaus leafed through his papers and looked at his ID. It was the same as the other one, but this one was authorized for the Dachau concentration camp. It was only open under strict order or clearence. Beyond all the security, ironically, was the city of Dachau. It was a small little factory city that had voted against Hitler in the 1933 election.

Once Klaus got to the digging site, he couldn't believe what he saw. It was just an open area of dirt, with about fifty Jews digging one long hole with shovels. Their bodies looked rigid and dead, more like skeletons than people. Their deep hollow eyes showed signs that where there was once life and happiness is now emptiness and distrust. Their blue-and-white stripped uniforms hung on their bodies and were barely clinging on. The pale faces showed years of hard labor and pain. They were digging for no apparent reason other than they were made to. The guards all stood around them, staring at them deathly with their even colder eyes. The guards were just as pain-ridden as the prisoners. They had seen things beyond their recognition. All of them were there against their will as well.

"Halt, who goes there?" a man, presumabley an officer, said as he held out his hand at Klaus.

"I am Soldat Klaus Kanker, I am here under order of Himmler. I am a new guard here. I am looking for a Hauptmann Eidrick." Klaus said as he held out his ID.

"I am Hauptmann Hans Eidrick. I need to see your ID." the man said, holding out his palm for the ID.

"Here it is." Klaus said, handing it over to him.

"I see, welcome aboard Kanker. All you do is stand here and watch over the prisoners. If one of them acts up, you shoot them. That's all you'll need to know."

"That's all?" Klaus asked.

"That's all." Eidrick said in a stone cold voice.

Eidrick took and left the site, leaving Klaus just standing there. He saw what the other men were doing, so he just watched and copied what they did. It wasn't much to do. Just stand around and watch what the Jews do.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. The same thing day in and day out. Klaus would get up every morning, go out for role call, and pass out the steins of coffee to the Jews. Klaus felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow for the Jewish people there. He knew that they were like him, there against their will. They had no choice in the matter. Klaus took so much pitty on them that he would often sneak food from the mess hall and give to them. He would give candy to the little kids. He just didn't want them to suffer.

One day, while Klaus was out on his guard duty, he asked Eidrick "Sir, why are they digging this hole?"

Eidrick answered in a nervous tone, "They're digging to lay a foundation for a new clothing factory, and that's all you need to know about it." and then he walked off.

Another day, another death. Smoke poured out of the tall smokestacks rising from the crematory. Hundreds of bodies being burned everyday. In the gas chambers, hudreds being gased to death everyday. It was like a fog of death surrounded everything around the camp. Everything was suffering and death. No one knew this better than Klaus. He saw it everyday as a guard. He saw the work that the Jews were forced to do, only to be slaughtered for their efforts. He knew this to be true, and hated every segment of it.

It was a day like no other. It was a day in mid January. The temperature could not have been more than zero degrees Fahrenheit. The air had a distinct nip to it, the type of cold where one could barely survive outside. The snow had just began to lightly fall, and the accumulation had scarcly been one inch. The wind wipped around back and forth. Klaus was out on his usual duty, guarding what was going on. The Jews were almost finished with their digging project, and were quite excited to be sure. For they were to get a group picture when they finished. All their work, all their hard work would finally be finished in reward for a photograph. They were prisoners be forced to do something against their will, and they are repaid with a photograph.

Klaus stood there, beating his feat on the hard dirt and slapping his hands together trying to keep warm. It was extremely cold. So cold that it is almost impossible to stand it. He had his overcoat on and still he felt as if it did no good. He could not tell the difference between being naked or being fully clothed. It was all the same now. All the same to him, anyway. He could feel the heat from the crematories that baked hundreds of Jews everyday. The smoke pouring out of the top of the smokestacks. The smell wrapping around the entire camp. And it wasn't just that. It was the feel. The feel of cold steel being smacked against your senses. That type of feel. It was like being struck against the back of the head with a lead pipe, but still be awake to feel the pain. The agonizing pain that kept going on and on further and further.

"Mr. Klaus, we are ready sir. Everything is done!" and excited and eager voice called out to Klaus. It was a short little Jewish man, in his typical striped outfit with no shoes. If he was going to die by murder, the cold would surely kill him.

"Ready...are you sure?" Klaus asked as he looked at the man who looked back up at him.

"Absolutely sir. We are ready for picture." he said in very bad German. His natural tounge was Russian, and German was hardly his calling card. He obviously struggled with it.

"Alright. I will be back shortly." Klaus said as he turned around and left. The prisoner turned around and went back to his group. They were all talking excitedly and giddy with laughter. They simply could not believe that they were going to be so privalaged to acutally get a photograph.

Klaus marched out of the area and up to the big office building that held his commanding officer. As soon as he stepped in the door, he could feel the heat streamline from the radiator to his frozen body. He thawed out as he moved across the lobby to the sound of typewriters clicking away in the distance. He moved up the stairs and up to the office of his master in this place. On the door it read one name: Henreich Himmler.

Himmler was sitting at his desk reading over some files. His glasses continued to slide down his nose as he flipped through stacks and stacks of death certificates at which he gave a grin to. He was being most pleased with his work when he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in..." he said in a disinterested tone as he motioned his hand.

In walked Klaus. He took off his gloves and looked straight at Himmler, who now took note of him and stood up.

"Klaus, _mein freund_, what brings you here today?" he asked as he shook Klaus' hand with great vigor with a warm welcome.

"The Jews are finished with the hole." he said in a stern, emotionless voice. It was like someone was making him say it. And in a way, someone was.

"Finished, so soon? Nevermind that. This is good. They have finished with great timing. Splendid. Why don't you go down and line them up for the photo. I will be down as quickly as time allows." Himmler said as he walked Klaus to the door.

"Yes sir, right away sir." Klaus said as he saluted and carried on. He hurried back to the site and filed all the Jews in order in front of their creation in order to have their great photograph taken. They had been waiting for this for months. Happiness was on all of their faces. Every last one was giddy with happiness. After having gotten everything done with his fellow guards, Klaus saw Himmler, Eidrick, and most of the other officers approaching behind a soldier pulling a cart. The cart was old and wooden, and had what was presumably a camera on the back of it with a cloak over top.

"Group. Attention!" Eidrick called out as the guards assumed their position on either side of the group. The officers gathered around the cart with the soldier behind it. Standing at ease themselves, they couldn't help but smile, and for the first time, have the Jews smile right back at them. But Klaus was not smiling. He felt something uneasy about it all. Something fishy. He could feel the horror creeping back up on him. Something was not kosher, and he could feel it.

"Say cheese..." Himmler said as he chuckled. This was que for the soldier to pull off the cloack. Underneath was not a camera, but a machine gun. A full out Hitler's buzzsaw German machine gun. Klaus came over with a shocked face as soon as he saw the cold steel being revealed. With a flash of sudden light, he ran to the group of officers yelling at them to stop.

"Stand down, Kanker, and keep guard. That is your job!" Eidrick barked back at him.

Klaus had no time to respond before the Jews started to scream as the soldier opened fire on them. Machine gun fire ripped all fifty of them down in no time. Possibly thirty seconds at the most. All of them, dead. As they were shot, they fell back into the hole behind them. The blood puddled up around their bodies and caused some of them, particularly the children, to float in their own blood.

"Good show..." Himmler said as he laughed with the others as they walked off. The soldier took his gun and walked off as well.

Klaus dropped his rifle directly out of his hands. Then he heard a voice. A voice not German. It was a Russian accent to be sure. One that was familiar to Klaus. Klaus walked over the the edge of the hole and saw one man who had not gone in the hole. He was right on the edge, praying a Jewish prayer in Russian. It was a Jew by the name of Levinstein, who had spoken with Klaus earlier. Klaus walked up to him, and Levinstein flinched back vilolently, bleeding out of his stomach and praying.

"It's okay, I'm going to help you." Klaus said as he held out his hand. That one hand outstretched enough to send a wave of emotion. Levinstein reached out and grabbed it, as he stood up with Klaus' assistance and thanked him in Russian.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the Lutheran priest for the camp appeared out of nowhere. He walked up to the two with an eerie grin on his face.

"Father, thank God you're here..." Klaus said as he started toward him.

"I know Klaus, you missed one." the priest said as he pulled out a Luger handgun and shot Levinstein point blank in the skull, knocking him back into the hole. The priest put away his gun and walked away, laughing and the bloodshed he just caused.

Klaus looked at the pieces of brain matter and blood that was spilt all over. The women, the children, Levinstein: all dead. Their bodies mutalated and shred to pieces. Blood everywhere.

He feel to his knees in tears. He doubled over, having been crying so hard. He cried like some,...grandmother who just lost one of her grandchildren. He wept and wept. The horror was too real. Far too real. He ripped off his helment, revealing his helment hair that was still as wavy and brown as ever. He cried until he stood up. He tossed his helment into the mass grave with anger. His tears were replaced by hatred. Hatred for the people who had made him do this. This was not him. He walked off to the restroom, because he felt he had to vomit.

He walked into the office water closet, which was quite large. As soon as he walked in, he turned into the corridor and into the place where the sinks and stalls were. He gasped for air as he saw the horror painted before him. He saw the dead body of Eidrick, his chief officer. It was sat down agaisnt the far wall next to the last sink. In one of his hands was a straight razor he had used for shaving, which he had now used to slit both of his wrists. Blood was puddled all around him in a giant reservoir. But the most shocking thing was the wall right above his head. In some sort of suicde note, was the phrase "WE ARE THE DEATH" written above his head, in his own blood.

Time went on. Now, outside the camp, an American batallion was making its way toward the camp. It was the 234th Infantry Divison of the US Army. They had been making their way to the camp for about a month now. This was now April of 1945. The war was over. Hitler killed himself. The German Army had surrendered. All the officers had left Dachau. All that was left was the guards and prisoners. The guards, like our friend Klaus, were there simply to wait for the Americans in order to surrender the camp.

The group of Amercians moved toward the camp and were now just passing over the railroad tracks of the trains. They could see the bodies of hundereds of dead Jews stacked up in cattle cars.

"Jeez, this sure is a hell hole alright." said a man by the name of Pvt. McGee. He is the grandfather of a kid named Eddy McGee from a place called Peach Creek.

"Yeah, you should say that over and out." was goofily said by a mad who was simply called "Ed" by his comrades. This is the grandfather of a kid named Ed Laughhorne from a place called Peach Creek.

"Shut up Ed..." Pvt. McGee said as he shook his head at his loving but goofball friend.

"Company, fall down!" A voice of a commanding officer called out as the company scrammbled out behind assorted box cars. The officer moved his arm and hand toward the gate, and a soldier of Polish decent moved out to be the first one to enter the gate. As soon as he looked around for rifle, he called out "Coast is clear!" as the other men, including our two loving Ed ancestors, moved up. They all scoped the area with their M-1 Garand rifles, looking at the piles of dead bodies and all the other war debris. They saw the prisoners, going hysterical over the Americans, waving flag-shapped cloth around and cheering in their assorted languages. Then, the soldiers saw some of the SS guards appear. The guards started shouting surrender pleas in German. All the American officer said was "Roll damn tide. Fire at will."

The Americans started hunting down and shooting all the Germans they saw. The Jews cheered on and joined in. They grabbed the rifles of their former masters and fought beside the Americans. They picked up their shovels and rakes and began to splat apart any German they saw.

After so long of hiding, Klaus came out in his German uniform. He was hiding behind a trash can behind the office building. Two Americans, our Ed ancestors, saw him.

"Hey, get the kraut!" Pvt. McGee screamed. "Come on Ed, before he gets away." Pvt. McGee pointed his rifle right at him and backed Klaus into a corner. Klaus got down on the ground and held his hands in front of his face.

"Any last words, gerry?" McGee said, clicking his rifle as he put his finger on the trigger.

"Please no shoot. I am Dutch. I am forced be here. I like prisoner." he said, in his very horrible English. He pleaded for mercy.

"You're a Nazi though, ain't ya?" McGee asked.

"Well, Ja. But I am forced to be Nazi. I taken captive from home. Wife killed. Son sent to America. Let me live to see him. I go to America to see son. Please, no shoot. Surrender. I go for America. God Bless America." Klaus said, pointing to the flag on their uniforms.

"Well buddy, why didn't you say so?" McGee said as he held his hand out to Klaus and helped him up. "Come with us."

Klaus followed the two as the crowd of prisoners gathered around the flag pole. An American soldier stood at the base and began to lower the German swastika flag. The crowd booed as the flag was lowered. As soon as he took it off the line, the soldier threw it to the Jews who began to rip it up and spit on the pieces. Klaus joined in. The soldier then took the American flag, Old Glory herself, and tied it to the line. He raised it up as the prisoners and Americans cheered and whistled. Then there was a silence as the flag hit the top of the pole and blew in the harsh wind.

"Ya-haaa! Amercia, whooooooo!" McGee shouted as he pumped his rifle in the air. The whole crowd began to chant "USA!" as the flag blew and the prisoners where set free from the hell they had been in for so long.

Pvt. McGee, also known as Eddie, stayed in the army 16 more years before retiring. After the war, he went back to America where he was stationed in Ohio. He got married and had children, one of them named Tom. Tom had a son who he named Edward McGee II after his granddad. Eddy McGee II is our beloved Ed boy from Peach Creek.

Pvt. Ed got out of the Army right after the war after a horrible buttered toast incident in the mess hall. He recieved a purple heart for the incident, and was discharged honorably in 1946. He moved to Ohio, got married, and had a son. That son had a son, and that son's name was also Ed.

Two immigrants by the last name of Morano left Rome, Italy in May of 1945 after the fall of Benito Mussolini. They moved to New York, where they had children. Several generations down the line, their grandson, name of Eduardo, Edward to his friends, had a son. His son's name was Eddward, but he is known as Double D to his friends. He has a nice girlfriend now.

The officer known as Nicolas Van Bartonschmeer was kicked out of the Nazi military after being found giving critical information to the British and Americans. He moved to America with his wife, where they had kids. Much later on, they had a great-grandchild whose name was Nazz Van Bartonschmeer.

Jakob, the assistant to Nicolas, also left Germany after the war. He moved back to the Netherlands, where he had children. Those children moved to Canada, who then had children that moved to America. The only child of the child that moved to America's name is Jimmy.

And Klaus was able to go to America. He met his son in Pennsylvania, where they moved to Detroit. He remarried a Polish survivor of the Holocaust, and they raised Hans in Detroit while Klaus worked at the Ford plant. Hans grew up, married, and had a daughter named Barabara. Barbara had three kids, one of them a girl we know as Marie Kanker, the other two being her sisters Lee and May.

And now we are back in the neighborhood of Peach Creek, where love is in the air, and everyone is connected in more than one way.


	79. Chapter LXXIX

Chapter LXXIX

So here the story is, here in good old Peach Creek. Not much has changed since we left. Still the same town, the same cul-de-sac, same neighborhood. Same kids. Yes, the same kids as before. Same Ed boys, and their loves, the once hated Kankers. Everthing seems as it should be. Eddy is holding hands with his Lee, as they walk back to the cul-de-sac where they live. Since the Kankers now lived in the cul-de-sac, they found it a lot easier to be with their lovely Eds. Eddy and Lee walk on, toward her new house. Rod's old and clunky Buick Park Avenue still sat in front of the house, though he and Barbara were gone at the time. Several hours before, they had gone over to Double D's house to have lunch with the Moore's, Double D's parents. Double D's father, Col. Moore, would be on leave from the Air Force base for only a couple days more, which would mean that he and Mrs. Moore would only have that much more time to be aquainted with their son's girlfriend's parents.

"They home?" Eddy asked Lee as he turned to her, pointing his thumb over to her house. He had noticed that the car was still parked in front, so he went ahead with the feeling and asked anyway.

"Not sure..." Lee said as she turned her head and pointed down to look toward him. "Dad's car is there, but that don't mean nuttin'." She gripped his hand a little tighter and gave him that devilish grin that she was famous for. Even though he couldn't see her eyes under all the hair, he looked into the general vecenity of where they would be. He have a little bit off a grin back. But still being Eddy, he had to play it cool and say something.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked her with his cool kid voice.

"Jawbreakers...?" she asked back, although it sounded more like "jawbreakas" with her Detroit-accent.

"Heck yeah!" Eddy exclaimed as he leaped into the air, rolling his fists around as a sign of excitement. Lee giggled a bit at his display of joy.

"You're a silly little man, ain't ya mister?" she asked as she looked down to him.

"Baby, you ain't seen nothin' yet!" Eddy said back as Lee reached for his hand again. Eddy clapsed on as the two continued walking up the hill and over the way to get to the downtown area where the candy store was. Their sillohoutes graced the pavement as they walked off into the afternoon fall sun.

The afternoon. Forever Afternoon. Tuesday?

Meanwhile, another one of our Ed boys, Ed, was chasing a certain girl named May around the woods outside of the cul-de-sac. They were playing a make-shift game of hide-and-go-seek mixed with tag. They called it "hide-and-go-tag." Ed was the counter this round, while May was roaming around the trees looking for a nice spot to find and hide. She found a nice litte shrub while Ed had just started counting.

"One, two, five, b, seven, toast; ready or not, here you go!" Ed called out as he began running around the woods, looking for her.

"You'll never find me, Mister Ed." May called out from an undisclosed location. She giggled wildly as he fumbled around the bushes and the trees. Finally he caught thought, and took off. May still sat there under that tree giggling into her hands. All of a sudden she heard nothing. No fumbling around, no bushes rattling. She turned her head around several times.

"Ed? Ed? Mister Ed...?" She called out several times, looking back and forth across the woods she saw nothing. "Humf." she said as she stared into this distance. Then, all of a sudden, she heard some twigs snapping and some birds flying away.

"Huh?" She asked, looking up all of a sudden.

"INCOMING!" Ed screamed out as he flew out of the tree and leaped onto May. The two grabbed onto each other, laughing and laughing, as they rolled down the hill and next to a small creek that ran across a grove of peach trees that grew there. The leaves had begun to fall as autumn had started to set it. The two laid there, still hugging on to each other and laughing.

"Mister Ed, you're the best bad influence ever!" May called out as she started to play with his hair.

"You're welcome!" Ed called back as they continued to lie there looking into the afternoon sky. Tuesday?

Double D and Marie were walking back to the cul-de-sac. They decided to take the long way back. Up through the narrow roads and allies, similar to how they used to back when Marie used to live in the trailer park. They held hands as they made their way up and through the narrow passages to the giant cul-de-sac, which appears to be the Mecca for all the kids that inhabit it. The cul-de-sac is almost like the homefront for the entire gang of the lot. Whether it be Rolf or Jonny or any of them, doesn't really matter. They all still treat the cul-de-sac as it supposed to be: home sweet home.

"What should we do today?" Marie asked Double D as she turned to face him. This was quite uncommon. Marie was almost always the one who made the planning and decision making. Rarely did Double D ever actually decide what they would do. And quite honestly, he was just as bewildered by it as anybody.

"You...want me to choose? he asked, his voice slightly trembling.

"Well of course silly. It's a pretty day outside, it's a great afternoon, and we're young and in love. Why shouldn't you?" she asked as she began to giggle into her free hand. She started to pull Double D closer to her in a way, that suggested that she wanted to be closer to him.

"Well, I assume we could just go and watch the clouds go by." Double D said as he began to look at the ground and wiggle his feet around a little.

"Alright honey bunch, let's go!" Marie said as she took off running, Double D still clinched to her hand with his hand. He began to catch up to her speed with his feet.

"And where exactly is our destination?" Double D asked, pointing his free index finger into the air as he usually does when he asks a question.

"To the creek. It's really pretty down there. We can sit and hold hands and watch the clouds!" she exclaimed as the two sped of into the distance toward the woods where May and Ed already were. The weather was lovely. It was a great time in the afternoon, around four o'clock or so. Such a great afternoon. Tuesday?

The woods were full of wonderful things. The birds flew overhead, as they were flying south for the coming winter. The creek splashed full of water. This is after, how Peach Creek got it's name. British settlers came in and found a long winding creek, where they planted long orchards of peach trees. The name was changed to Peach Creek, and it stuck. Now, during the 1940s, most of the peach trees were cut down to make way for the suburb that would come. But along the creek there still remained a nice little grove of peach trees. In fact, the town council had thought of changing the name of the town from Peach Creek to Peach Grove, but it had been thrown out numerous times.

Along the aforementioned creek sat Ed and May the two had taken to just sitting there now. Ed had calmed down considerably since he and May had been together. He figured now would be a better time than any to try and mature and act more adult like. He was happy now that he was with his sweetheart. Nothing could change that for the world.

"May Kanker, is that you?" Marie called out as her and Double D stepped down the small enclaved cliff, stepping down the periodic pebbles that led down to the creek on the opposite side of the one Ed and May were on.

"Who else would it be, Elvis?" May called out in a faux-angry sisterly way. "What are you guys doin'?" she asked, as her and Ed stood up to greet them.

"We came down here to be in love, what about you?" Marie said as she and Double D started to make their way across the wide creek to get over to the other side on which Ed and May were on.

"Same here!" May said with her colorful and silly grin. Her blonde hair rustled in the wind as it blew past over her ear and to the west.

"Well ain't that just sweet." Marie said, placing her hands on her hips. "A double date."

"Yay, a Double Date!" May said as she wrapped her arm around Ed. "Come on Big Ed."

Okay dokey Artichokey!" Ed said with a smile as he placed his arm around May's shoulders.

"Come on Edd, it's gonna be fun!" Marie said as she latched on to Double D's hand.

The two couples walked off along the creek together to go sit in the grassy knoll that they all knew so well. It was one of their favorite spots. Such a beautiful Tuesday Afternoon.

Back in the cul-de-sac, Double D's house was vibrating with people. Ed's parents, the Laughornes, had decided to join the Moores and the Van Wilmers in their afternoon social.

Around five minutes passed, and a Lincoln pulled up outside the Moore household. Out of the car stepped good ole Father Espicce. He walked up to the door and knocked his usual couple of times.

"I wonder who that could be?" Col. Moore asked as he turned around to look at the door as he heard the knocks. "Excuse me." he said as he got up and went over to the door.

"Edward!" Fr. Espicce said as the door opened before him. His eyes lit up and his arms extended out to hug him.

"Father Espicce!" Col. Moore said as he reached out and grabbed Fr. Espicce in a hug. The two stood there for several seconds before Col. Moore proceeded to the living room.

"Come on in, Father. Just about everyone's here. Here's Rod and Barbara, and over there is the Laughornes, and the McGees will be here shortly."

"Fantastic." Fr. Espicce said. "Nice to see my congregation here together when they're not at Mass." he said as he chuckled to himself. He sat himself down on the edge of one of the sofas next to Rod and proceeded to join in on the conversation.

"Father," Rod said as he shook the priests old hand, "we were just talking about the military. Did you ever serve?" he asked.

"Now that you mention it Rod, I did in fact serve. I served in the US Army from 1966 to 1969. I served in Vietnam." Fr. Espicce said, sitting back a bit and putting one leg over the other.

"Oh wow, how was that?" Barbara asked, turning her head toward him. "Must have been tough. I always heard that Vietnam was hard on people."

"Well Barbara," Fr. Espicce said, taking in a sharp inhale and letting it out, "It was hard. But you never really thought about it at the time. They handed you a rifle and told you to shoot people. You hike up mountains, you camp out in jungles. You sleep in the rain. I've seen more kinds of rain than Forrest Gump. I've seen my best friends die, I've seem my worst enemies live. It really test how much a man can take and still live life the way he used to. I certainly came back a changed person. When I went in, I was just a boy. I was good in school, but that was about it. I wasn't meant to serve in the military. But I went in anyway, and went straight to Vietnam. When I first got there, it was like being thrown into a different world. I grew up and lived in New York City my whole life. Suddenly I was scaling mountains and crawling through rice paddies. I was shooting people, and they were shooting at me. I was flying around in helicopters and riding in jeeps. I just wasn't used to it. But after so long, you do get used to it. It really tests a man and his ability to keep his faith."

"Did you volunteer?" Rod asked as he took a sip of his beverage. Mrs. Moore had went and got Fr. Espicce a drink during his monolouge.

"Thank you." Fr. Espicce said to Mrs. Moore as he took the scotch in his hands and took a sip. He then sat it on the coffee table and turned back to Rod.

"Oh no, I did not volunteer. I would have never have voluntarily gone to that place just to die. Many of my older cousins and friends had gone over there and never came back. No, I was drafted. Got my draft card two weeks after my eighteenth birthday. At the time I thought it was the worst thing that could have ever happened to me. But while I served, I found my faith and my true calling to be a priest. I found out how to trust and care for people. I found myself in that country. I found out what love really is." Fr. Espicce wrapped up as he reached down and grabbed his drink and sipped it. Everyone in the room was in awe at how much thought Fr. Espicce had put into his military past and how much that it truly affected everyone. Fr. Espicce then tried to lighten the mood a little.

"Hey everybody, you wanna see a picture of me from then?" he asked them. They all nodded and agreed, so he reached into his wallet and pulled out the little wallet sized picture of him in his dress uniform from 1967. He passed it around and they shared some comments. The room was soon filled with laughter.

Outside, the sun was just starting to try to lower itself down to the lower part of the sky. The blue sky was starting to fade from a bright blue to an azure induced orange. The afternoon was over, and evening had come to pass.

Evening time to get away.


	80. Chapter LXXX

Author's note:

I would like to dedicate this chapter to a certain reader of mine from Belgium, who requested me to create a character for him in the story.

This is for you Chris.

Chapter 80

The time was now in the late afternoon. The sun was now barely setting in the west. It was probably around 6:00 in the evening, and all was basically well. Time was moving along as it always will. All the Eds seemed happy now. The happiness they had searched for their entire life was finally complete. Now they had basically no worries. Almost no worries at all. There was no Kevin in the picture; no bully to dominate them. Now all they had to worry about was the occasional jawbreaker or maybe Sarah yelling at them. Other than that, everything was scott free. Paradise. The cul-de-sac had been envisioned into what it always should have been: a safe zone of security and childhood. A place where innocence would be preserved forever.

Double D and Marie were walking along the construction path that led to the trailer park. It had been so long since either one of them had walked along that particular path. Double D never liked going along it. Being a natural spazz, there was so much that could scare him. With all the construction and machines and materials, one could easily be spooked. But Marie was different. She had often enjoyed walking along the path at night, when it was peaceful. There was always so much hate and anger that floated around her house, or rather, the trailer. Sometimes she would just have to get away. To retreat from the conflict.

"Such a nice evening, isn't it?" Double D asked Marie as they continued down the path closer and closer to the trailer park.

"It really is very nice." Marie told him. She glanced around, looking at all the strange architecture that she once knew so well.

"You must know where everything is around here." Double D told her.

"Just about. I could probably walk it blind-folded." Marie said as she continued down the path, almost as if she were Scrooge and Double D was the Ghost of Christmas Past.

"I bet this road has many storied to tell." Double D said.

"Oh it does," Marie retorted, "I've spent a lot of time around here. Half the time I would just come here to walk around. Things at home just got so,..."

"Hectic?" Double D added.

"Yeah." she answered, drawing her head down, "I just had to get out. Go explorin' a little. See what's out there. I'd just come out here to look at the stars and feel the wind. At night, everything is just so peaceful. You can hear the world go to sleep."

Just as Marie was finishing her speech, they had reached the trailer park.

At the same oval trailer where the Kankers had lived for a short time, a moving truck was parked. Double D noticed his dad helping unload some boxes, with a women beside him talking. Obviously curious as to what was going on, Double D advanced forward with Marie, and they harkened on to what was going on.

"What's all this, father?" Double D asked as he approached his father.

"Hey Edd." Col. Moore said as he lifted a cardboard box out of the truck and put it on the ground. "You've got some more family in the neighborhood." he said as he jumped up and sat on the back of the U-Haul truck. Double D and Marie moved up and stood around him.

"You see that woman in there with the blonde hair?" Col. Moore said as he pointed in the front window.

"Yes." Double D said.

"Well, that's my sister, Elena. She used to live in Belgium. She married a Belgian guy when she was in college, and she moved over there with him. He's an engineer at one of the beer plant over there. Anyway, they had a son, your cousin, Chris."

"So why are they here?" Double D asked.

"Because Elena and her husband recently got divorced, and she said that there was nothing tying her down to Belgium anymore. But really, she can't afford it anymore and had to move here in order to make ends meet. They're both really nice people, but they've just fallen on hard times. Why don't you go in to say hi" Col. Moore said as he motioned to the door.

"Okay." Double D said as he walked toward the door. Marie stayed back and just sort of stood awkwardly.

Double D opened the door quietly as he walked in and looked around. He saw Elena, the blonde woman, his aunt, walking toward him.

"You must be Edd, Edward's son...?" she asked him as he walked in.

"Oh yes, that would be me." Double D said.

Double D looked the woman up and down. She was a relatively thin woman. She had blonde hair down to around her shoulders, and deep blue eyes. She had a pointy chin similar to Double D, and a long figure similar to Double D. Her eyes were baggy, as they carried a lot of years and a lot of stress. She had on a floral dress with Capri jeans, with a light zip up jacket over it. She spoke in a thick Bronx accent similar to all of Double D's family.

"Well nice to meet you Edd." she said as she walked closer to him and extended her hand, "I'm your Aunt Elena."

"Very nice to meet your acquaintance..." Double D said awkwardly as he also extended his hand an proceeded to shake her hand. After the greeting and handshake, Elena walked back over to a nightstand that had been brought in. She picked up a short pack of Marlboro cigarettes an lit one with a plastic lighter, taking a puff, and put the lighter back down.

The room was relatively empty. With the exception of the nightstand, a sofa, and several cardboard boxes, there was nothing else. The walls were an empty white. The floor was barren. It was the type of empty chairs at empty tables feeling that accompanies that feeling of emptiness that comes with everything. With every walk of life there is an emptiness. Whether it is a new stage or an old one. It can be masked, or hidden, or even ignored. But it will never go away. Nothing can fill that empty void. It just lingers on, and on, and on.

Double D looked back at her, and then down at his shoes, then back at her. She didn't have much to say; nothing at all in fact. Eventually, after roughly thirty seconds or so, she spoke up.

"Why don't you go back and say hi to Chris. I'm sure he'd appreciate it. He feels like a complete stranger here. I'm sure he'd love to have a buddy to help him out a bit."

"Where's he at?" Double D asked, beginning to put his feet in motion.

"He's in the upstairs bedroom." she said, pointing up the stairs.

"Okay then." Double D said as he proceeded up the stairs.

At this time, Col. Moore walked in the front door. He was carrying a load of boxes, and he set them down on the ground.

"Thanks, Edward. I really appreciate all your help." she told him.

"Well, it's the least I could do," he said, with a grin, "I try to do what I can."

"It's just been so hard, you know..." she said with sigh as she sat down on a stack of boxes. "Chris has taken it so hard. He won't even speak to anybody anymore. He's just in his own little world. It seems like after the divorce was finalized, everything just turned upside down. It's just been me and him. It gets so lonely. I just sit around, watching TV or reading, and all he does is sit around in his room all friggin' day. I just wish I could say more to him, or get closer to him. But it's pointless. All the fights we used to have, all the arguing. It's all affected Chris. He picked up on it all. I just wish there was something I could do." she said, beginning to tear up and sniffle.

"You're doing the best you can. Being a single mother is hard work. It's not an overnight thing. It takes time to get used to. I'm sure after a while, it'll be like nothing. It just takes time." he said, extending his hand and placing it on his arm. There was no true way he could penetrate her heart right now, but it did help her a little. She held back her tears and began to take control of herself once more.

Double D went up the stairs and up to the door of his cousin Chris. The door was closed, but it had a Le Mans racing poster taped over it. There was some music coming from within the room, though it was uncertain what it was. He knocked on the door several times, before he finally a voice call through the door.

"Come in..." the strained voice said from beyond the door.

Double D turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door. The room he entered had already been set up with furnishings. The bed, the dresser, everything. It was a very basic room, comprising of only a bed, a dresser, mirror, and a couple shelves with racing cars on them. There was a small desk with a lamp and laptop on top. Then there was Chris, sitting on the edge of the bed, with a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar on his knee as he as playing it.

Chris was a somewhat short man. He wore all black clothing. He had on a black hoodie, black t-shirt, black denim jeans, and black military boots laced all the way up. He had shortish black hair and he wore blue framed eye glasses. He didn't seem at all intimidating. He was quite friendly, though a little shy.

"Come in and sit down." he said in a French accent as he patted the edge of his bed next to him. Double D of course walked in and sat down next to him.

"Who are you?" Chris asked as he sat his guitar down.

"I'm Eddward, your cousin." Double D said as he extended his hand. "But my associates refer to me as Double D."

"Hello Double D," Chris said, as he extended his hand and shook, "My name's Christophe, but you can call me Chris. My friends usually call me Mach."

"Why would they call you that?" Double D asked.

"Because I am a big fan of BMX racing. I also really like Le Mans racing. Where I come from, it is a big, similar to, I guess, Nascar over here..." Chris said, trying to find the right words, "I am heavily involved with the sport. It's just about all I think about. Over in Belgium, there's not much to get excited about."

"Did you enjoy living in Europe?" Double D asked him, starting to take interest into his world.

"Not really much." Chris said, looking down, "Not much to do there. Just boring same stuff every day. Not like here in America. America is fun."

"What else do you do besides watch racing?" Double D retorted.

"I like to ride bikes. I have a BMX and can go really fast on it. I like doing tricks and stuff. I try to practice them everyday." he said, picking his guitar up again. He started to strum along the chords to "What Lies Beneath," a song by Andy James.

"So you play guitar?" Double D asked him.

"Oh yes, I love playing the guitar. I can sit here and play this song all day. I just love how it flows through me when I'm playing it." he said as he strummed and started to silently sing to himself.

"Do you play guitar?" Chris asked him.

"Oh, well, I can play petal steel guitar. I've been playing it for a very long time. I suppose I love it as much as you love electric guitar. Playing it is very rewarding.

"I'll say." Chris said as he strummed and played his heart out.

Already Double D was beginning to make a new friend.


End file.
